Buddy System Movies

By Victoria Piper

• The Buddy System is a sub genre of Comedy.• These movies have two main characters usually male, who are very close.• The genre has immediately noticeable qualities.

You always know when you are watching a buddy system film

THE TWO SHOT

The two shot gives you a perfect view of both characters and their reactions at the same time.

The two shot

The two shot

The two shot

The two shot

The two shot

The two shot

I am going to be comparing three films

THE CHARACTERSBuddy systems movies have two main male characters.

The Characters• Meet the guys.• To the left we have Bill S. Preston,

Esquire. and Ted "Theodore" Logan

• Just below are Jake and Elwood Blues

• and at bottom right you can find Wayne Campbell and Garth Algar

The Characters• Bill S. Preston, Esquire. and Ted "Theodore" Logan

are best friends from San Dimas, California. • They are a Slacker- Rocker duo. • They have even started their own band (Wyld

Stallyns) despite lacking musical talent, decent instruments, Eddie Van Halen and a triumphant video.

• They have a lot of heart and view the world with openness and wonder.

• They are currently failing history. Which could send Ted to a Military Academy in Alaska.

• They are a very friendly pair and are not scared to talk to strangers nor do they get hurt by other people. They treat everyone like they are a new friend.

• When a version of themselves appear out of the sky in a phone booth and begin telling them things about time travel it only takes one question of "what number are we thinking of? 69 dudes!" for them to be completely accepting and excited.

• They might not be geniuses but they are going to save the world.

The Characters• Jake and Elwood Blues are brothers from

Chicago, Illinois.• They grew up in an orphanage run by nuns,

which despite the nuns whacking them with a ruler when they misbehaved (even doing it now when they are all grown up) they have a connection with it and when they find out it is in trouble stop at nothing to help raise the funds.

• The Blues Brothers from the very start are identifiable as criminals. I mean it begins with Jake being released from prison so what do you expect.

• They are charming but make enemy's very quickly.

• despite this they have close friends who will back them up always; leaving jobs, not listening to their wives telling them to stay at home, and even ending up in prison by the time the credits roll, all to help out Jake and Elwood.

• They are well dressed in theory, black suits, hats and sunglasses, although in practice not so much; as they are constantly wearing them the suits muddy easily (especially the situations these boys get themselves into) and loose what could have at some point been a professional image.

• They are on a mission from god.

The Characters• Wayne Campbell and Garth Algar are twenty-

something best friends from Aurora, Illinois.• They are rock music enthusiasts, to the point of

when they meet their idols such as Alice Cooper and Aerosmith they will bow down loudly calling "we're not worthy, we're not worthy."

• They have their own talk show which they host from Wayne's parents basement. It is a popular local Friday late-night cable access program.

• The show centers around the pair ogling pictures of beautiful celebrity women, playing guitar and air drums, and interviewing local people, indirectly making fun of them over the course of the interview.

• Wayne has a confident, loud and outgoing personality whereas Garth is painfully shy to the point of keeping his thoughts on a shady business deal offered to them to himself. When Wayne gets fired for refusing to interview the shows sponsor a panicked Garth is left to host the show. He freezes on close up and crawls away backwards over the sofa.

The Characters• In all three instances one character is taller than the other, Ted and

Elwood tower over Bill and Jake. Wayne and Garth's difference it isn't as clearly noticeable but Garth is taller.

• Despite this the smaller is the one seen more in control; they take on more of a leader role than the other.

• The smaller are louder and can be seen as more confident.• The taller characters are quieter and can be convinced by the shorter that

there is nothing to worry about if they are concerned, and that even a ridiculous sounding idea is completely plausible and something they should get on board with.

• This doesn't mean that they are unable to think for themselves, when seen on screen away from their smaller counterpart they actually cope very well with situations (Garth possibly exempt), they just seem to take a back seat role.

The Characters• Bill and Ted and Wayne and Garth are particularly similar. • They are all slackers; seeming a little dumb (though you

soon learn that is not the case) and they are very much into their rock music.

• The way they look and dress - long hair, baggy almost shabby clothes

• They all have the same style of speech, recognizable as surfer - even talking using the same vocabulary featuring the same kind of words and 'catch phrases.'

• The release date of Excellent Adventure was the same weekend as the first appearance of Wayne and Garth on Saturday Night Live.

• Bill and Ted kind of paved the way for Wayne and Garth

The Characters

Bill and Ted's Eexcellent Aadventure

• Party on, dudes! • Excellent• Bogus• No way• Dude• Air Guitar riff • Babes• Be excellent to each other

Wayne's World• It's Wayne's World, Wayne's

World, party time, excellent!

• Party on Wayne• Party on Garth• We’re not worthy!!• Not!• As if!• No way! way!• Sh'yeah!

THE MISSION

For most buddy system movies the characters have a mission, something that they must achieve by the time the credits roll.

The Mission• Bill and Ted are failing history and if they fail

Ted's dad will send him to a military academy in Alaska. This could end their friendship and the band which could ruin the future of the planet. Their music will create world peace in the future so if they can’t make it the future is in jeopardy.

• Using a time machine they must collect famous historical figures to pass history and save the world.

• Wayne and Garth sell Wayne’s World to a TV executive but they soon realise that he only wants to have the show because of its popular name and that they are expendable to him.

• Wayne also has his sights set on a singer called Cassandra and “she will be his.”

The Mission• In the Blues Brothers once Elwood picks his brother up from prison they

go to their childhood home, a catholic orphanage, only to find out that it is facing imminent closure unless $5,000 in property taxes are collected. They immediately agree to get the money to help them out but get kicked out receiving a small beating in the process as the sister refuses to take stolen money.

• After visiting a church Jake has a vision, they decide to get the band back together and do a big performance to raise the funds legally.

THE VILLAIN

There is always going to be someone against the boys staying together and completing their mission.

The Villain• Ted’s dad is trying to send him to

Alaska, which would separate the boys and their band. He believes that Bill is a bad influence and that him and Ted need more discipline.

• Their history teacher also seems to want them to fail.

• Benjamin Kane is a TV executive who buys Wayne’s World and then tries to get rid of Wayne and Garth as they cannot be controlled with what they say or do. He wants the fame their show has to transfer to something that he is in control of.

The Villain

• Jake and Elwood get on the bad side of more than their fair share of baddies. The police, a disgruntled ex-fiancée, Illinois Nazi’s and band The Good ‘Ole Boys. Somehow even with all of these things against them and even though they even end up in prison, it all works out pretty well for them.

THE MUSICMusic plays a huge roll especially in these three movies.

The Music• For both Bill and Ted’s Excellent

Adventure and Wayne’s World the characters are such huge fans of rock music that it features heavily in the movies.

• Bill and Ted loudly play instruments for Wyld Stallyns and when they enjoy something they can be found playing an extreme air guitar riff.

• They even include music in their presentation with Beethoven on Keyboard.

The Music• With The Blues Brothers music plays a huge

roll, it is one of the bases of the entire film.• The way the music is delivered varies, it isn't

just there in the background to set the scene, there are also performances from Jake and Elwood with the Blues Brothers Band and by some amazing top stars that make appearances along the way. (Including James Brown, Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles and Cab Calloway.)

• The first song you hear in the film ‘She caught the Katy’ introduces you to Jake and Elwood and the actors who play them it is used in a brilliant way.

• The film features a piece of music that is used during the driving and transition scenes, it sounds perfect for a mission.

• The songs that they perform are upbeat and catchy they make you feel good.

• The scene with James Brown singing in the church was filmed in one take.

• Aretha Franklin especially struggled with lip-synching as old school artists would never sing a song the same way twice. She also had a dance routine to perform so her scene was shot line by line.

CHARACTERS IN SITUATIONSNone of the characters are fazed by anything that happens.

Characters in Situations

• A phone booth falls from the sky, a man steps out and tells them about time travel. There is a little bit of confusion but they accept it. Another version of the phone booth falls next to the first and future versions of themselves step out, Ted does question it and seem concerned but after Bill ask them a question and they answer correctly "What number are we thinking of?" "69 dudes!" they are ok with the situation and completely on board. They never look back and think about exactly what they are doing; they just travel through time, collect famous historical figures and bring them to present day. They even say "you are handling time travel with the greatest of ease" to Billy the Kid but that also perfectly describes them.

Characters in Situations• Jake and Elwood are the epitome of not being affected by ridiculous situations. Throughout the film there are many explosions and after each and every one of them they get

up, dust themselves off and walk away. They are in Elwood's apartment with police about to knock on the door and Jakes ex-fiancée blows the building up, it collapses and they are not even shaken. They clamber up out of the rubble, dust off those precious suits and carry on with the mission. They step in a phone booth together (Jake wants to make a phone call but Elwood follows him) and a bazooka is aimed at it, they fly into the air to a ridiculous height in the booth, crash land with all the glass smashing and the booth ending up on its side. The only difference? - Elwood happily announces that there must be a load of money in change and they begin to collect the coins that are now all over the floor.

LOCATION & LIGHTING

Where are the characters from? Where does most of the film take place?

Location• Both the Blues Brothers and Wayne's World are set in Illinois with Blues Brothers much more

direct in Chicago and Wayne's World set in the suburbs of Aurora which is on the outskirts of Greater Chicago.

• Jake and Elwood Blues (Elwood especially) are much more identifiable as being from Chicago, having much stronger accents.

• Wayne and Garth sound (Wayne more so) like surfers both with vocabulary and speech, sounding more like Bill and Ted (from California) despite being from a landlocked state.

• Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure is set in San Dimas, California home of the Raging Waters theme park one of the largest water parks in California.

• Bill and Ted visit many moments through history so it would be difficult to pick a main location, though I guess the phone booth would count. The garage is seen during both the intro and before the credits of the film.

• The Blues Brothers spend a lot of time in the car so most of the scenes are showing them on roads or travelling and the rest are in places of performances (on stage, in clubs and pubs and even a soul food restaurant.)

• The main location of Wayne's World is the set of the show, whether it is the actual basement of Wayne's parents’ house or the fake one built in the studio.

Lighting• For Wayne's World and Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure the scenes are always bright and colorful.

They are comedies so that lighting means happy moments.• Bill and Ted especially seems very 80's in the colors used and the brightness of the moments.• The Blues Brothers is also bright and colorful during daytime scenes, but a lot of the scenes are set

in the car and at night, which means they are darker.• Though the film does include funny moments it is not just a comedy, therefore the scenes are not

all filled with bright colors, they are sometimes more suited to the action and crime themes of the film.

EXTRASOther similarities between two or more of the films.

Extras

• Boys in a Buddy System need to travel, and they need to do so in Style.

• From a time travelling phone booth• to the bluesmobile (a brilliant cop car being driven by criminals)• the characters in these movies know how to look good on the

move.

Extras• In both Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure and The Blues Brothers they have an older

character who acts as a mentor.• For Bill and Ted its Rufus. He's from the future and came back with the time machine to help

them pass their history report and ensure everything happens as it should (them staying together, Wyld Stallyns making music, their songs ending war and creating world peace.)

• For Jake and Elwood it is Curtis. He works at the orphanage and did even when they were little, he introduced them to blues music and believes in them. He even performs on stage with their band when they are running late to buy them some time.

Extras

• Dancing also features in a couple of the films. Whether it is well executed by the Blues Brothers during performances by other artists, of which I cannot decide the one that I love and enjoy most. Or unexpected, weird and kind of brilliant moves by Garth.

SIMILAR SCENESScenes where the things that make them the same are in full view

Similar Scenes• The introduction to the characters of Bill and Ted and Wayne and Garth is very similar.• Bill and Ted are filming themselves and loudly 'playing' instruments• "I'm Bill S. Preston Esquire. And I'm Ted "Theodore" Logan. And we are WYLD

STALLYNS."• Wayne and Garth are on their TV show set filming an episode, with theme tune.• "Wayne's world, its Wayne's world, party time, excellent!" • "I'm Wayne Campbell and this is my best friend Garth Algar."

Similar Scenes• Bill and Ted are out collecting

historical figures for their report. They are gathering them all up and travelling with them in their phone booth to present day so they can talk about what they think of San Dimas 1988 in the boy’s history lesson.

• Jake and Elwood are going round Chicago and getting the band back together. They are finding all of the previous members in their new jobs and reminding them of how much they loved to perform so they will help them complete their mission.

Similar Scenes

Similar Scenes

SIMILAR SCENES

With music playing such an important role in all three of the films, there is going to be some kind of scene in a music shop.

Similar Scenes• For Bill and Ted it is Beethoven at the San Dimas Mall. He sits down at a

keyboard, the salesman shows him one of the pre-recorded songs and he is then unsure of how that much sound can come out of the small box, where he is used to a full sized piano. It doesn't take long for him to smile and get into it and play all that he can. He plays so much and on so many keyboards that he is escorted out of the shop.

Similar Scenes• Once The Blues Brothers have got the

band back together they need to purchase some instruments. They are told about a shop that one of the guys always got his instruments from when Jake was in prison.

• The owner of the shop, Ray Charles! • Some of the guys complain about the

quality of the instruments but he proves them wrong, performing the song 'Shake your tailfeather' which sounds brilliant and includes a dance routine performed by people on the streets and with Jake and Elwood in the shop. It is possibly my favourite routine, but not the favourite steps that I see Jake and Elwood perform throughout the film. It is catchy, feel good and the moves are hilarious.

• Wayne has an obsession with a specific guitar that he has stared at through the shop window every Friday. Even after being told to "live in the now" by Garth he is still determined to purchase it.

• He has clearly asked to play it multiple times as the salesman has to tell him that he needs to put it away. He uses the may I help you riff to get the attention of the salesman and he is not allowed to play the song he wishes to. "Stairway, denied."

• Garth also gets in on the action by playing the drums. The scene includes his performance happening as if part of a proper rock concert - this leads to a kid in the shop to say "Wow. You're amazing dude." with Garth responding "Thanks. I like to play."

Similar Scenes

EPIC MOMENT

There is always one stand out moment in a movie that you will remember.

Epic Moment• The presentation. Performed in true rock concert style. • It takes place in the theatre of their school, with a huge audience of other

students. • It includes all of the figures they collected on their adventure, with

examples of what they did and why there are so famous. • It ends with Abraham Lincoln telling everyone to "party on, dudes!" which

is something special.

Epic Moment• The Blues Brothers featured what was the largest and most expensive car

crash scene in movie history. It held the record for most cars destroyed in one film. (Until the sequel came along 18 years later.)

• The chase scene where the bluesmobile is shown to be going at the speed of 120mph was actually filmed at that speed. The director added pedestrians to prove that the footage was not sped up in post.

Epic Moment

Epic Moment

Epic Moment

Epic Moment• There is a scene right at the beginning of Wayne’s World that is recognised and

loved by all of the films fans. • Bohemian Rhapsody in Garth’s car. • This hilarious performance sent the Queen classic to number 2 in the charts nearly

20 years after it was first released.• Mike Myers was upset that Dana Carvey didn't know the words to the slower part

of the song as he wanted it to be everyone singing every word.

WHY DO PEOPLE GO AND SEE BUDDY SYSTEM MOVIES?

Why do people go and see buddy system movies?

• To find out the answer to this question I went round and asked some of my classmates. The all gave the same answers so it was very clear very quickly exactly why viewers watch films of this genre.

• People who enjoy these types of films go to see them for the comedy factor. They are comedy films and their audiences are there waiting and prepared to laugh in their seats.

• These types of films can also be a form of escape; both in that they can sit and do nothing but smile for an hour and a half, forgetting about stresses of school, college, work, friends and family; and also because they can watch it and relate to a character they can go on this weird wacky adventure and step away from their regular lives.

• The actors in these films are normally known and that can make a fan of theirs go and see the movie. People they know in these weird comedy situations are fun for a viewer to watch.

• Recommendations from peers and friends, cinemas and watching films are a great group experience. If you enjoy something you want to go out and tell people and tell your friends so they watch it and you can all socialise and talk about this thing you have in common.

• If you want to go out and do something, like see a film, the choice of a buddy system comedy is easy as you know what you are going to get. You don’t have to think about it too much and you know you can enjoy it, its light hearted and fun.

• What more do you want in a movie?

The End.