I often get pushback when I demand completely disabled, non-firing weapons on set, but this is why. Mistakes happen, and when they involve guns, mistakes kill. No gun ever needs to fire on set. Muzzle flashes are the easiest & cheapest visual effect. Why are we still doing this? https://t.co/vT9QRwyYKY
Or you could simply hire a competent weapons master and train the people using guns about their safe handling. If a child can be taught gun safety, Alec Baldwin should be able to figure it out. Also, maybe people who hate guns shouldn't make movies about guns.
Originally Posted by :
Not sure what happened here, but if you work in the industry, a reminder:
Prop guns are guns. Blanks have real gunpowder in them. They can injure or kill — and they have. If you’re ever on a set where prop guns are treated without proper caution and safe handling, walk away. https://t.co/JLHAzHLPty
This is great advice. The day Michael Massey shot Brandon Lee, the Crow weapons master was not present on set. A prop guy checked the gun, but didn't realize that a bullet had dislodged from an empty shell and got stuck in the barrel of a revolver after a scene showing the same revolver being loaded.
Originally Posted by :
And because these are, in many cases, real guns firing blank round with 1/2 or 1/4 load, they tend to jam and misfire. Which means you frequently wind up with an actor or prop master frantically trying to unjam the thing so you can keep shooting. Not a recipe for a safe set.
Not sure why anybody would need to "frantically" unjam a gun on set; it's not like the actors playing the bad guys are going to be shooting at people between takes. I've successfully dislodged bullets stuck in barrels, unextracted brass and dud cartridges on several occasions. It's the nature of the beast when using reloaded ammo, but even factory ammo can fail on occasion. The shit ain't rocket science, but it should be left to a person who is properly trained, and that person should not be rushed or otherwise fucked with while he's doing it. [Reply]
Baldwin is an anti-gun zealot. Those people tend to be incredibly ignorant not only about guns, but about gun safety. I'll bet that when more details are known we will find out that he was violating gun-safety rules that could have prevented this death. [Reply]
The theory that he was doing a scene that involved pointing the gun at the camera makes sense. Kinda strange to read all the tweets about how terribly dangerous these prop guns are given how much they have been used over the last century. [Reply]
Originally Posted by POND_OF_RED:
Doesn’t make any sense. Why film in New Mexico if it’s supposed to be a Kansas setting? Isn’t it harder to make it seem like a desolate piece of shit landscape with mountains in the background?
Tax breaks. That's usually the deciding factor as to where a movie films these days. Some states like Georgia give you a free ride of no taxes. Taking the jobs supplying the film, hotels, catering etc. workers, companies are happy for the work. The state then collect tax from the workers paychecks. [Reply]
Originally Posted by :
An eyewitness on set tells this column that the bullet went straight through the body of DP Halyna Hutchins and into the clavicle of the film’s director Joel Souza.
Originally Posted by :
On the ground, Baldwin was in shock but composed. He kept asking why he was handed a “hot gun.” Our eyewitness said Baldwin kept saying “In all my years, I’ve never been handed a hot gun.”
Originally Posted by RedinTexas:
Baldwin is an anti-gun zealot. Those people tend to be incredibly ignorant not only about guns, but about gun safety. I'll bet that when more details are known we will find out that he was violating gun-safety rules that could have prevented this death.
Gun safety is not the actor's responsibility. You're exactly right that he's probably ignorant about it. That's why film crews have armorers with the specific job of preventing people from getting hurt. [Reply]
Originally Posted by DaFace:
Gun safety is not the actor's responsibility. You're exactly right that he's probably ignorant about it. That's why film crews have armorers with the specific job of preventing people from getting hurt.
Yet actors constantly preach to us like they are experts on everything. In reality they are fools and Court jesters. [Reply]
Originally Posted by stanleychief:
On the ground, Baldwin was in shock but composed. He kept asking why he was handed a “hot gun.” Our eyewitness said Baldwin kept saying “In all my years, I’ve never been handed a hot gun.”
And in all those years no one ever mentioned that you should handle every gun as though it’s a hot gun, you arrogant asshole? [Reply]