Sean Connery Is About to Shoot You

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"December 1, 1903: Edwin Porter's The Great Train Robbery debuts. The plot: a wisecracking former cop fights train-jackers at 15 mph. Thrilling audiences with its pioneering realism and papier-mache trains, the final scene -- in which the villain turns and fires his gun directly into the camera -- was said to have so terrified the audience that they would often shriek in terror, screaming out 'Yippie ky yay, motherfucker!' as one."

—More Information Than You Require

When a character points a weapon at the camera so it looks like he is about to attack the audience with it. Sean Connery is not actually required, but doesn't hurt at all.

The more aggressive Sister Trope of Pistol Pose, this trope is frequently used on movie posters, DVD/VHS cases, and book covers. The star of the work is pointing a gun directly at the audience. It's that simple.

Note that while this usually involves guns, other weapons and even fists can also be used. The "Superman Is About To Punch You!" variant, in particular, is quite common on comic book covers. And certain movies.

This trope is often used in movies themselves as well, although the MPAA prohibits its usage in green-band (all ages) trailers. If the character actually attacks the audience, it's The Fourth Wall Will Not Protect You.

See also Pistol Pose, Stab the Sky. Often overlaps with Floating Head Syndrome. Sword Pointing is a variation.

For the inverse situation - when You Are About to Shoot Sean Connery - see Bond Gun Barrel.

Examples of Sean Connery Is About to Shoot You include:

Cover/poster examples

Anime and Manga

Comic Books

Film

Literature

Live-Action TV

Professional Wrestling

Tabletop Games

Video Games

In-story examples

Anime and Manga

Film

Literature

A new poster had suddenly appeared all over London. It had no caption, and represented simply the monstrous figure of a Eurasian soldier, three or four meters high, striding forward with expressionless Mongolian face and enormous boots, a submachine gun pointed from the hip. From whatever angle you looked at the poster, the muzzle of the gun, magnified by the foreshortening, seemed to be pointed straight at you.

Live-Action TV

  • Chris Elliott is about to shoot you in his domestic sitcom/cop drama mashup Action Family where he guns down his teenage daughter's scuzzy boyfriend - not that he's guilty of Chris's partner's death, he's just conveniently there for the wrap-up/happy ending.
  • In the Firefly episode "Heart of Gold," Mal levels his pistol dramatically at the camera, and then gets startled by Inara and lets out a very undramatic "Bwa!" of surprise.
  • The opening of Sledge Hammer! ends with Sledge saying "Trust me, I know what I'm doing" and shooting the screen.
  • When thugs interrupt Xena: Warrior Princess's bathing, you get a point-of-view shot of her punching you in the face.

Theatre

  • In the finale of Assassins, the assassins all draw their guns, walk to the foot of the stage, and fire on the audience.

Video Games

Western Animation

  • In Batman: The Animated Series, Mr. Freeze fires his freeze gun directly at you. In the commentary, the directors are surprised they got away with it - they wouldn't have been able to with a regular gun, in case some kid decided to try it.
  • One Rocky and Bullwinkle storyline has a Southern Gentleman from the "League of Confederate Correctors" who couldn't stand anyone even mentioning the word "Civil". During a football game that somehow mutated into a re-enactment of a battle from the War Between The States, the narrator describes Bullwinkle "swivel-hipping his way to the goal --"

Gentleman: Dagnabbit, you said "civil!" (Bang!)
Narrator: Excuse me, "war-between-the-states"-hipping his way to the goal!

Other examples

Advertising

Music

  • Eazy-E is about to shoot you. Or maybe he just did. Or maybe he's not finished yet. To add insult to injury, from the perspective it's clear that Dr. Dre is standing on your crotch.

New Media

  • All The Tropes:
  • Used for humorous effect on the cosplay/talk show/thing Demyx Time, where Vexen is using his mind-ray to make everyone forget about the body-switching incident - It Makes Sense in Context. The episode ends with him repeating 'NOBODY MUST REMEMBER!' and shooting it into the camera.

Video Games

Western Animation

Real Life

  • Irish politician (at the time of the photo, Minister for Defense), Willie O'Dea is about to shoot you!
  • Occasionally in pro sports, an athlete or a ball will collide with a camera or cameraman. There is some pretty crazy footage from Major League Baseball of foul balls that have shattered the camera lens.


  1. ↑ The mock-up poster was used in a Something Awful Photoshop Phriday feature
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