Community Theater Green Room Discussion Board: weapons master

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krascal75
Walk-On
Walk-On

Joined: 6/08/08
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 0

Topic: weapons master
Posted: 10/03/08 at 1:27am

What constitutes a weapons master? The community theater where I am active doesn't seem to have a definition of what a weapons master does or more importantly how to become a weapons master. We don't have a list of who within our theater is a weapons master so the one man who everyone knows is one gets calls even though he's not particularly active any longer at our theater. I'd like to find out what other theaters do for weapons masters.

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pdavis69
Celebrity

Joined: 3/26/06
Location: United States
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 437

Posted: 10/03/08 at 8:47am

Our theatre does not have a weapons master, or does it truly need one. All our swords are kept in our warehouse with the props. We have two blank guns, a cheap one kept at the playhouse and an expensive one I keep at home only because I have a gun safe. Unless a theatre is a huge metropolitan theatre who does tons of weapon heavy performance, I can't see the real need for a weapons master. Unless you just want to give someone the title to make them feel important.

Patrick L. Davis
Fort Findlay Playhouse

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tonyboling
Star
Star

Joined: 3/15/08
Location: United States
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 55

Posted: 10/03/08 at 9:20am

Here's our guy...
http://artofcombat.org/public/thespis/resumes/Resume2.htm

He actually "belongs" to the group that split off from ours but for a free ad in the program he's happy to choreograph a fight scene for us whenever we need it, which admittedly isn't too often. It's nice to know he's around though.

The last thing we used him for was the breakfast fight scene in The Miracle Worker. All the slaps bites punches and rolls were awesome. Our Anne was 29 and Helen was 11 and the trust they built up was amazing.

Maybe look to a local university or community college and get one on loan?

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dboris
Celebrity

Joined: 2/10/04
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 124

Posted: 10/03/08 at 12:39pm

I can see there being two different roles a "weapons master" may play.

In once case I can see a weapons master as being akin to a fight arranger in shows where there is actual combat with the weapons. In these cases, for safety reasons, you definitly want someone who has training an experience in this area.

The second case is where someone is just responsible for the care of the weapons during the show. This would be someone who loads blank guns, makes sure the weapons are in good shape and makes sure the are secured at the end of each performance. This will often be the props master of stage manager on the show. Weapons will sometime be treated seperatly from other props for safety and security reasons.

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B-M-D
Celebrity

Joined: 11/03/05
Location: United States
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 346

Posted: 10/03/08 at 7:39pm

Not sure what a weapons master is but I can assume it's someone that has an area of expertise of how to use and is the keeper of various theatrical weapons. We don't do alot of shows requiring weapons but we do have two extremely realistic looking theatrical guns that are kept in a very safe location. When used in shows they live with the stage manager until the actor using it has to go on stage or if has to be on stage the SM is the only person that places it. The SM is also responsible for test firing, loading, unloading and cleaning the weapon as well as getting it back to it's "storage" place after each performance.

"Dying is easy, comedy is hard."

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Author	Message
krascal75 Walk-On Joined: 6/08/08 Online Status: Offline Posts: 0	Topic: weapons master Posted: 10/03/08 at 1:27am
	What constitutes a weapons master? The community theater where I am active doesn't seem to have a definition of what a weapons master does or more importantly how to become a weapons master. We don't have a list of who within our theater is a weapons master so the one man who everyone knows is one gets calls even though he's not particularly active any longer at our theater. I'd like to find out what other theaters do for weapons masters.

	IP Logged

pdavis69 Celebrity Joined: 3/26/06 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 437	Posted: 10/03/08 at 8:47am
	Our theatre does not have a weapons master, or does it truly need one. All our swords are kept in our warehouse with the props. We have two blank guns, a cheap one kept at the playhouse and an expensive one I keep at home only because I have a gun safe. Unless a theatre is a huge metropolitan theatre who does tons of weapon heavy performance, I can't see the real need for a weapons master. Unless you just want to give someone the title to make them feel important.
	Patrick L. Davis Fort Findlay Playhouse
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tonyboling Star Joined: 3/15/08 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 55	Posted: 10/03/08 at 9:20am
	Here's our guy... http://artofcombat.org/public/thespis/resumes/Resume2.htm He actually "belongs" to the group that split off from ours but for a free ad in the program he's happy to choreograph a fight scene for us whenever we need it, which admittedly isn't too often. It's nice to know he's around though. The last thing we used him for was the breakfast fight scene in The Miracle Worker. All the slaps bites punches and rolls were awesome. Our Anne was 29 and Helen was 11 and the trust they built up was amazing. Maybe look to a local university or community college and get one on loan?
	IP Logged

dboris Celebrity Joined: 2/10/04 Online Status: Offline Posts: 124	Posted: 10/03/08 at 12:39pm
	I can see there being two different roles a "weapons master" may play. In once case I can see a weapons master as being akin to a fight arranger in shows where there is actual combat with the weapons. In these cases, for safety reasons, you definitly want someone who has training an experience in this area. The second case is where someone is just responsible for the care of the weapons during the show. This would be someone who loads blank guns, makes sure the weapons are in good shape and makes sure the are secured at the end of each performance. This will often be the props master of stage manager on the show. Weapons will sometime be treated seperatly from other props for safety and security reasons.
	IP Logged

B-M-D Celebrity Joined: 11/03/05 Location: United States Online Status: Offline Posts: 346	Posted: 10/03/08 at 7:39pm
	Not sure what a weapons master is but I can assume it's someone that has an area of expertise of how to use and is the keeper of various theatrical weapons. We don't do alot of shows requiring weapons but we do have two extremely realistic looking theatrical guns that are kept in a very safe location. When used in shows they live with the stage manager until the actor using it has to go on stage or if has to be on stage the SM is the only person that places it. The SM is also responsible for test firing, loading, unloading and cleaning the weapon as well as getting it back to it's "storage" place after each performance.
	BD "Dying is easy, comedy is hard."
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Topic: weapons master( Topic Closed)