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canyonwalkerIt's been above-the-fold news here in the US the past few days that a gun accident occurred on the set of the film Rust in New Mexico on Thursday. Well known actor Alec Baldwin was handed a prop gun he was told was "cold"— meaning not loaded with ammunition— yet when he used it during rehearsal of a shooting scene it fired a projectile, striking two people. Director of photography Halyna Hutchins was killed and movie director Joel Souza was injured.
I've held off writing about this for a few days as I hoped clearer details would emerge. Sadly the facts remains unrevealed. Police are still investigating, and the film production company is denying or no-commenting everything. Statements from members of the film crew, some on the record and some off, paint a damning picture. One crew walked off the set that morning over safety protocols being ignored, and there have been past complaints against assistant director David Halls— the person who declared "Cold gun!" as he handed the weapon to Baldwin— for cutting corners on gun safety practices.
So, evidently the gun handed to Baldwin was not only not "cold", it was also not loaded with blanks. Apparently it contained a real bullet. One thing I wonder is, WTF? Why would live ammunition be anywhere on a movie set? Blanks are enough to create the recoil and muzzle flash of firing a gun, the things filmmakers want to capture for verisimilitude. What complete fucking idiot put a live round in there?!
Then of course there's the obvious problem of safety practices not being followed. Even blanks are dangerous. In 1993 actor Brandon Lee was killed in an accident during filming of action/sci-fi movie The Crow when a blank round discharged a metal fragment that was lodged inside a gun. Thus there are industry practices for how to manage the use of guns as props on movie sets. They were ignored here.
I've held off writing about this for a few days as I hoped clearer details would emerge. Sadly the facts remains unrevealed. Police are still investigating, and the film production company is denying or no-commenting everything. Statements from members of the film crew, some on the record and some off, paint a damning picture. One crew walked off the set that morning over safety protocols being ignored, and there have been past complaints against assistant director David Halls— the person who declared "Cold gun!" as he handed the weapon to Baldwin— for cutting corners on gun safety practices.
So, evidently the gun handed to Baldwin was not only not "cold", it was also not loaded with blanks. Apparently it contained a real bullet. One thing I wonder is, WTF? Why would live ammunition be anywhere on a movie set? Blanks are enough to create the recoil and muzzle flash of firing a gun, the things filmmakers want to capture for verisimilitude. What complete fucking idiot put a live round in there?!
Then of course there's the obvious problem of safety practices not being followed. Even blanks are dangerous. In 1993 actor Brandon Lee was killed in an accident during filming of action/sci-fi movie The Crow when a blank round discharged a metal fragment that was lodged inside a gun. Thus there are industry practices for how to manage the use of guns as props on movie sets. They were ignored here.
no subject
Date: 2021-10-25 03:05 am (UTC)