TeaCupping is Wrong

And so is pointing the gun at the ceiling.  Throughout the seventies and eighties, television and film were totally unconcerned about any kind of weapons realism in cinema.  But that has been changing.  Dramatically.  Shows like "The Unit" spend painstaking amount of time and training to make sure the actors are holding and handling the weapons accurately.

The move is on towards accuracy.  And if you, an actor, go into an audition or on the set and grab the pistol and teacup it, don't be surprised if they laugh at you.  Or roll their eyes.  If you insist on a shoulder holster, I hope you're character is extremely old school.  They just don't do that today.  And when you're about to turn the corner, why are you pointing at the sky with that handgun?  The police and the military do not train that way-- only fake actors do it that way.  And they do it because they saw it on television in the seventies.

At the Screenfighting & SFX for Actors Workshop on Dec 4, Weapons Master and Specialist Doug Williams will be joining Stunt Coordinator Scott Roland and SFX Coordinator Steve Krieger and will show you the right way to hold a gun and handle it like a professional.  Doug has been trained at FBI courses as well as some of the best military training ranges in the country.  And he's been weapons master on several feature films.  He knows guns.

Doug and I took some actors to Frontsight in Las Vegas for some training a couple years ago.  It was great stuff.  I myself have done some extensive firearm training and now insist on realism in my movies.

Want to know what TeaCupping is?  Come to the Seminar to avoid this embarrassing on-set mistake!  Register for the Saturday, Dec 4 Workshop at http://www.s-films.com/pov .