Wayne and Garth

The 90's were a very special time for movies and music. I was just a kid, but I have very vivid memories of that timeframe. Some of my very favorite childhood moments were spent at our family's fishing cabin on Spirit Lake. After swimming all day, we'd retire to the cabin in the evening for s'mores and a movie. My older cousins were far cooler than me and my sister. They had cable television at their home, and they knew about mature movies. They introduced us to Bevis and Butthead and Wayne's World.

The soundtrack to Wayne's World is iconic. I wanted to try and recreate the feeling of the movie, but I wanted to put my own unique spin on it. So, the idea of using dogs was born. Moose, the three-year old black Portuguese Water Dog made a natural Wayne. My own black and white Berenedoodle, Gordon Bombarky, made a perfect Garth. The black ring around his eyes replicated Garth's signature glasses.

In the movie, Wayne and Garth broadcast a public access television show from Wayne's basement. The set boosts wood paneling on the walls and furniture adorned with blankets. I asked Moose's dad, Ryan, if we could use his home for the shoot. Although we shot in the living room rather than the basement.

I purchased the wigs, hat, and glasses from Amazon. Ryan had the guitar we used for Wayne and I raided my boys' musical instruments for the drum sticks. Everything else was already in Ryan's home. We pushed the coffee table out of the way to make more room.

I was shooting with my Sony A7III camera with my 35 mm prime lens. Although both Moose and Gordy are well-behaved independently, it was a struggle to get both dogs in position, with their wigs on, at the same time. Because of this, I used a tripod and remote trigger. I also used my new Godox trigger and strobe. I used a large rectangular diffuser with the strobe.

Photoshop was 100% necessary in creating these images. I had to merge the two photos, as each dog was posed separately. There was a lot of bloopers that involved biting wigs and chasing each other.

“I once thought I had mono for an entire year. It turned out I was just really bored.” – Wayne

“We’re not worthy… we’re not worthy!” -Wayne and Garth

One of the most memorable scenes in the movie is when Wayne and Garth bow down in front of Alice Cooper and confess they are not worthy. I wanted to recreate that iconic scene. Luckily, each dog laid down on the couch in a similar way and I was able to merge the two images together in photoshop.

I'm absolutely in love with the final images. Now I want to cuddle up with my own Garth and watch the movie and it's sequel. Maybe blast some Queen songs and drive to Aurora, Illinois. What other films should I recreate?

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