Alec Baldwin 'discharged' prop gun that left cinematographer dead and director hospitalized on 'Rust' movie set

[spacelordmaster]

This ain't good news.

 

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/woman-fatally-shot-another-injured-on-the-set-of-alec-baldwin-movie-rust-015205941.html

[DocM]

Shades of Brandon Lee's death on the set of The Crow ☹️

 

Thoughts:

 

Blanks can wound or kill at close range, especially the rounds with a hard wax plug which fills the end of the shell (green),

 

 

Or, did someone in the Prop Dept. load the wrong ammo ?

 

Regardless of the ammo, WTF was Baldwin doing shooting in the direction of the directors ??

 

Something's very, very wrong here.

Edited October 22, 2021 by DocM

[Michael Scrip]

I worked at a railroad wild-west theme park for a few summers.  It had a cowboys and indians train show.  

 

Gun safety was VERY important.  Of course they used blanks... but you were never supposed to point a gun at ANYONE.  At ANY TIME.  Even during a show.  All guns were fired at an angle towards the ground.  Thousands of blanks were fired every day without an incident.

 

I hate hearing this news.  I'm eagerly awaiting more information.

[DocM]

On 22/10/2021 at 05:21, Michael Scrip said:

>

Gun safety was VERY important.  Of course they used blanks... but you were never supposed to point a gun at ANYONE.  At ANY TIME.  Even during a show.  All guns were fired at an angle towards the ground.  

>

 

Or for film into an out of frame barrier, often using a remote camera setup & transparent barrier for those POV shots. Training, training, training, then more training.

 

I hope this wasn't a case of someone screwing around, but...

[Michael Scrip]

Now they're saying there was a live round in the gun...

 

Definitely more questions need to be answered... 😟

 

SANTA FE, N.M. — An assistant director unwittingly handed Alec Baldwin a loaded weapon and told him it was safe to use in the moments before the actor fatally shot a cinematographer, court records released Friday show.

 

“Cold gun,” the assistant director announced, according to a search warrant filed in a Santa Fe court.

 

Instead, the gun was loaded with live rounds, and when Baldwin pulled the trigger Thursday on the set of a Western, he killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. Director Joel Souza, who was standing behind her, was wounded, the records said.

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/sheriff-baldwin-fired-prop-gun-on-movie-set-killing-woman/2021/10/22/2d323656-3320-11ec-8036-7db255bff176_story.html

[spacelordmaster]

As a former gun safety instructor I will say this:

 

Gun safety rules have never changed. They have always been the same. That being said, you NEVER, EVER trust anyone that gives you a gun and tells you "It's safe. It's clear." I don't care of they are your mom, your sister, your wife or your best friend. You ALWAYS check the gun, no matter what, before you do anything with it.

 

I feel very bad for him because he was told the gun was safe and he trusted that person who told him so, but at the same time, he was negligent as he should have known better than to trust this person, who probably didn't even know the gun was loaded either. Who knows, but the point is, Mr. Baldwin should have checked that gun and that chamber. The law is going to get him for that. It's called "Involuntary Manslaughter". Here's the definition of it for those who don't know what it means.

 

https://thelawadvisory.com/what-is-involuntary-manslaughter/

[briangw]

On 22/10/2021 at 03:37, DocM said:

Shades of Brandon Lee's death on the set of The Crow ☹️

 

 

I remember when that happened back when I was in high school. That was filmed in Wilmington, NC, 40 miles south of where I grew up (Jacksonville, NC). I remember reading about it in the newspaper the next morning. My friends and I were excited for the movie's release, and we were worried it wasn't going to be released afterwards. But if I recall correctly, they had most of it filmed.

[DocM]

On 22/10/2021 at 23:57, briangw said:

I remember when that happened back when I was in high school. That was filmed in Wilmington, NC, 40 miles south of where I grew up (Jacksonville, NC). I remember reading about it in the newspaper the next morning. My friends and I were excited for the movie's release, and we were worried it wasn't going to be released afterwards. But if I recall correctly, they had most of it filmed.

 

They did a rewrite then filmed the rest of his scenes using a body double, replacing his face in post production using CGI.

 

https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-arts-and-entertainment-movies-santa-fe-alec-baldwin-25d83890a289bb9ae358f406cd3cbee9

 

Quote

 

 

Quote

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — 

>

Instead, the gun was loaded with live rounds, and when Baldwin pulled the trigger Thursday on the set of a Western, he killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. Director Joel Souza, who was standing behind her, was wounded, the records said.

 

The Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office obtained the warrant Friday so investigators could document the scene at the ranch outside Santa Fe where the shooting took place. They sought to examine Baldwin’s blood-stained costume for the film “Rust,” as well as the weapon that was fired, other prop guns and ammunition, and any footage that might exist.

 

The gun was one of three that the film’s armorer, Hannah Gutierrez, had set on a cart outside the wooden structure where a scene was being acted, according to the records. Assistant director Dave Halls grabbed the gun from the cart and brought it inside to Baldwin, unaware that it was loaded with live rounds, a detective wrote in the search warrant application.

>

 

 

 

Edited October 23, 2021 by DocM

[DramaInc]

Can someone TLDR how a prop gun hurts people?  I thought the point of prop guns is to not be dangerous?

[spacelordmaster]

On 23/10/2021 at 02:22, DramaInc said:

Can someone TLDR how a prop gun hurts people?  I thought the point of prop guns is to not be dangerous?

 

https://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2021/10/22/joseph-fisher-prop-guns-movie-sets-alec-baldwin-newday-vpx.cnn

 

[Michael Scrip]

On 23/10/2021 at 02:22, DramaInc said:

Can someone TLDR how a prop gun hurts people?  I thought the point of prop guns is to not be dangerous?

 

Prop gun was the headline yesterday.

 

Today it seems that is was a real gun all along... and it was loaded with live ammo on the film set.

[Son_Of_Dad]

On 23/10/2021 at 17:57, Michael Scrip said:

Prop gun was the headline yesterday.

 

Today it seems that is was a real gun all along... and it was loaded with live ammo on the film set.

The story has also flipped from loaded with blanks to told it wasn't loaded at all 🤔

[DocM]

On 23/10/2021 at 02:22, DramaInc said:

Can someone TLDR how a prop gun hurts people?  I thought the point of prop guns is to not be dangerous?

 

Prop guns are usually real guns loaded with inert rounds, blanks or empty.  It's the job of the  armorer and prop team to keep things straight.

 

Inert rounds are often made from a real round, but with the powder and primer removed. They're often used in scenes depicting a gun being loaded.

 

Brandon Lee was killed when the armorer neglected to remove the primer in an inert round. The primer has enough power to drive the bullet into the barrel where it gets stuck, AKA a "squib round."  The next blank had enough power to fire the squib round out of the barrel and kill Lee.

 

[+warwagon Subscriber²]

As much as I dislike Baldwin, I do not hold him responsible. It's a movie set, should he have treated the gun like it was loaded? Yes! Should he have checked it? Absolutely! But it's a movie set, and he assumed the professionals there for gun safety and gun consultation would not hand him a gun telling him it was unloaded when in fact it was not. A LOT of people should have checked that gun, not just Alec. As to why he had it pointed at her, they probably had the shot setup where he points the gun at the camera and the director and cinematographer are usually right behind the camera.

 

It was a MASSIVE safety failure for all involved, not just Baldwin.

[DramaInc]

On 23/10/2021 at 10:33, DocM said:

 

Prop guns are usually real guns loaded with inert rounds, blanks or empty.  It's the job of the  armorer and prop team to keep things straight.

 

Inert rounds are often made from a real round, but with the powder and primer removed. They're often used in scenes depicting a gun being loaded.

 

Brandon Lee was killed when the armorer neglected to remove the primer in an inert round. The primer has enough power to drive the bullet into the barrel where it gets stuck, AKA a "squib round."  The next blank had enough power to fire the squib round out of the barrel and kill Lee.

 

That's so scary.  I wonder if the guy responsible for not prepping the gun properly will be held responsible for negligence. 

[+warwagon Subscriber²]

On 23/10/2021 at 14:03, DramaInc said:

That's so scary.  I wonder if the guy responsible for not prepping the gun properly will be held responsible for negligence. 

The person in change of that is a 24 year old female named Hannah Gutierrez Reed, who said she was nervous about taking  the job, thinking she wasn't ready and almost turned down the gig.

 

https://news.yahoo.com/24-old-head-armorer-alec-122916840.html

[Sun-Tzu]

Point being... whether or not a gun is loaded or not, ALWAYS handle it as if it is loaded and DO NOT point it at anyone.

[DocM]

As producer of the film, this puts scrutiny back on Baldwin 

 

https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2021-10-22/alec-baldwin-rust-camera-crew-walked-off-set

 

Quote

'Rust’ crew describes on-set gun safety issues and misfires days before fatal shooting

 

Hours before actor Alec Baldwin fatally shot a cinematographer on the New Mexico set of “Rust” with a prop gun, a half-dozen camera crew workers walked off the set to protest working conditions.

>

Safety protocols standard in the industry, including gun inspections, were not strictly followed on the “Rust” set near Santa Fe, the sources said. They said at least one of the camera operators complained last weekend to a production manager about gun safety on the set.

 

Three crew members who were present at the Bonanza Creek Ranch set on Saturday said they were particularly concerned about two accidental prop gun discharges.

 

Baldwin’s stunt double accidentally fired two rounds Saturday after being told that the gun was “cold” — lingo for a weapon that doesn’t have any ammunition, including blanks — two crew members who witnessed the episode told the Los Angeles Times.

 

“There should have been an investigation into what happened,” a crew member said. “There were no safety meetings. There was no assurance that it wouldn’t happen again. All they wanted to do was rush, rush, rush.”

 

A colleague was so alarmed by the prop gun misfires that he sent a text message to the unit production manager. “We’ve now had 3 accidental discharges. This is super unsafe,” according to a copy of the message reviewed by The Times.

>

 

Edited October 23, 2021 by DocM

[DocM]

Quote

>

The actor was preparing to film a scene in which he pulls a gun out of a holster, according to a source close to the production. Crew members had already shouted “cold gun” on the New Mexico set. The filmmaking team was lining up its camera angles and had yet to retreat to the video village, an on-set area where crew gathers to watch filming from a distance via a monitor.

 

Instead, the B-camera operator was on a dolly with a monitor, checking out the potential shots. Hutchins was also looking at the monitor from over the operator’s shoulder, as was the movie’s director, Joel Souza, who was crouching just behind her.

 

Baldwin removed the gun from its holster once without incident, but the second time he repeated the action, ammunition flew toward the trio around the monitor. The projectile whizzed by the camera operator but penetrated Hutchins near her shoulder, then continued through to Souza. Hutchins immediately fell to the ground as crew members applied pressure to her wound in an attempt to stop the bleeding.

>

 

 

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/nation/2021/10/23/rust-crew-describes-set-gun-safety-issues-and-misfires-days-before-fatal-shooting/6148567001/

[Nerd Rage]

Not that it will bring the poor woman who died back, but I hope Alec Baldwin sees jail time for this.  

 

He's a hot tempered person who often comes off as supremely unlikable, is always the first to throw judgment at people, and now he fails to follow the extremely simple first and most important rule of firearms......never point a firearm at anyone that you don't intend to shoot.

[+primortal Subscriber²]

On 23/10/2021 at 21:06, Nerd Rage said:

Not that it will bring the poor woman who died back, but I hope Alec Baldwin sees jail time for this.  

 

He's a hot tempered person who often comes off as supremely unlikable, is always the first to throw judgment at people, and now he fails to follow the extremely simple first and most important rule of firearms......never point a firearm at anyone that you don't intend to shoot.

His personality aside, and has no place in this discussion as if it’s some sort of precursor for “murdering” someone or a “well deserved” attitude towards him.

 

There was failure all around from the people who prepared the prop and the person who told Baldwin the gun was cold as well.  Along with those who ignored all safety precautions.  Ultimately the person in charge of this production should be held accountable.

 

This should be call to band all live rounds period on set.  With the advancements with special effects, muzzle flashes can be added later on after filming.

[DocM]

Quote

>

Though more details need to come to light, Los Angeles accident and personal injury lawyer Miguel Custodio says reports of crew members walking off set earlier that day in protest of working conditions could suggest the production bears some responsibility.

And that could include Baldwin, who also serves as a producer on the film.

 

"If there were corners that were cut and those corners had any role into the death of the director of photography and the injury of the director, then Alec Baldwin is very much liable, not as the actor but more as the producer," he says.

>

https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/movies/2021/10/23/alec-baldwin-will-he-be-charged-halyna-hutchins-death-lawsuit/6143310001/

[spacelordmaster]

On 23/10/2021 at 15:12, warwagon said:

The person in change of that is a 24 year old female named Hannah Gutierrez Reed, who said she was nervous about taking  the job, thinking she wasn't ready and almost turned down the gig.

 

https://news.yahoo.com/24-old-head-armorer-alec-122916840.html

Well that figures.

[+primortal Subscriber²]

 

[+warwagon Subscriber²]