Alec Baldwin Involved in Fatal Shooting On Set of Rust

[hanselthecaretaker]

Director of photography killed, movie director injured after Alec Baldwin discharged prop firearm on movie set | CNN

A film crew member has died and another was injured after actor Alec Baldwin discharged a prop firearm on the set of the movie "Rust" in New Mexico on Thursday, according to a law enforcement statement provided to CNN.

www.cnn.com

Even if you don’t like the guy it’s tough not to feel a bit sorry for him. Chances are he was set up by some disgruntled set hand or something but on the other hand, what was he doing pointing the gun at off camera crew members let alone pulling the trigger.

 

[BrawlMan]

Director of photography killed, movie director injured after Alec Baldwin discharged prop firearm on movie set | CNN

A film crew member has died and another was injured after actor Alec Baldwin discharged a prop firearm on the set of the movie "Rust" in New Mexico on Thursday, according to a law enforcement statement provided to CNN.

www.cnn.com

Even if you don’t like the guy it’s tough not to feel a bit sorry for him. Chances are he was set up by some disgruntled set hand or something but on the other hand, what was he doing pointing the gun at off camera crew members let alone pulling the trigger.

Somebody already posted it on the general movie and TV news thread.

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

Somebody already posted it on the general movie and TV news thread.

My bad, was only looking for threads about it didn’t even notice there was a news thread.

 

[BrawlMan]

My bad, was only looking for threads about it didn’t even notice there was a news thread.

No worries. I started the thread last week.

 

[PsychedelicDiamond]

You know, if you have a weapon prop that actually kills someone if you fire it at them, it's not really a prop, it's just a weapon.

 

[thebobmaster]

Oh, it gets better. The reason this happened? Apparently, someone left A LIVE ROUND in the prop gun.

Prop Gun That Killed Cinematographer on Alec Baldwin Film Contained ‘Live Single Round,’ Union Claims

The prop gun fired by Alec Baldwin in fatal shooting on set of 'Rust' contained a 'live single round,' union claims.

variety.com

 

[Mister Mumbler]

Oh, it gets better. The reason this happened? Apparently, someone left A LIVE ROUND in the prop gun.

Prop Gun That Killed Cinematographer on Alec Baldwin Film Contained ‘Live Single Round,’ Union Claims

The prop gun fired by Alec Baldwin in fatal shooting on set of 'Rust' contained a 'live single round,' union claims.

variety.com

"Good work Agent 47, mission accomplished."

(Sorry, still a tragedy, but I just couldn't help myself).

 

[Eacaraxe]

One can only hope this spurs action in the film industry to stop using real firearms on set loaded with "non-lethal" blanks.

They do it to save money*, so it'll never happen of course, but it would be nice to happen.

[* Real firearms being cheaper than law enforcement/military training conversion kits, or purpose-built training weapons with simulated recoil and pyrotechnic charges to simulate muzzle blast.]

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

It's The Crow all over again. I'm sorry for everyone involved.

 

[crimson5pheonix]

If I had to guess, the scene that was shot before the one where the accident happened showed Baldwin loading the pistol. Blank rounds are obviously fake, so they would have to load it with rounds that have the bullet in them. A careful company would use rounds with no powder, but I wouldn't necessarily say using live rounds since they look like real bullets (being real bullets) for that kind of scene would be unsafe.

So long as you fully unload the weapon before the next scene.

Which is where I suspect the fuckup was at.

The guy unloading probably just counted the rounds as he unloaded and miscounted, keeping a live round in the cylinder.

 

[Drathnoxis]

"Good work Agent 47, mission accomplished."

(Sorry, still a tragedy, but I just couldn't help myself).

That's exactly the first thing I thought of as well.

 

[crimson5pheonix]

Oh it gets worse.

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

At least one of the camera operators complained last weekend to production managers about gun safety on the set.

www.latimes.com

The union film crew had left the set because of labor disputes, among them was that the prop gun being used had misfired multiple times in the past week and nobody was doing anything about it.

 

[Ezekiel]

One can only hope this spurs action in the film industry to stop using real firearms on set loaded with "non-lethal" blanks.

They do it to save money*, so it'll never happen of course, but it would be nice to happen.

[* Real firearms being cheaper than law enforcement/military training conversion kits, or purpose-built training weapons with simulated recoil and pyrotechnic charges to simulate muzzle blast.]

Fake guns usually look like fake guns. If they wanna ban guns completely, I'd imagine that creating passable fake guns will be much more expensive, like you said. Seems so stupid to ban guns from movies when the problem was specifically the round. If they wanna reform anything, it should be regulations for bullets and blanks. But I don't even think they need ban those, since this is so rare. We've all spotted digitally added gunshots. Some look much less convincing than others.


Blame the actor/crew, not the gun.

 

[Ezekiel]

Here's an example of a responsible armorer and actress. She obviously respects the gun.

The armorer yelling to the crew.

Moss out loud on the set.

Nothing needs to be banned.

 

[Ezekiel]

Idiot.




"Every time I have ever been handed a gun, the prop master has made sure that I see the status of the gun, showing me that it is either clear and totally empty, or if I am firing a blank, how many rounds are loaded and how many times I will fire the weapon. I must acknowledge."

Interesting. Looks like that's what the armorer was doing with Carrie-Anne Moss in my screenshot above.

 

[Eacaraxe]

Fake guns usually look like fake guns.

Real guns nowadays look like fake guns. It's a byproduct of the firearms industry switching to primarily polymer -- especially matte polymer -- construction for frames, grips, buttstocks, barrel shrouds, optics -- basically, any component that isn't related to trigger assemblies, chambers, or barrels that need to be made of metal, to withstand the internal stresses and pressures of firing a round.

That applies even to -- hell, especially to -- wood grain-finish polymer.

Blame the actor/crew, not the gun.

I'm blaming producers and accountants. The pricks who'll spend hundreds of millions on dumbfuck effects and marketing, but won't greenlight ten to twenty thousand for conversion kits already in studio/armorer stock.

Nothing -- absolutely nothing whatsoever -- would have to be "created", as training kits I described earlier do not just exist, but are commercially-available to civilians and not just LEO/military. I could buy one, today, for my home defense/EDC and it costs maybe three to five hundred -- about half what the damn pistol cost in the first place -- depending on manufacturer, style, make, and model. All they are, are replacement slides and barrel assemblies, maybe trigger assemblies and custom magazines for some, and most I've ever seen or heard of actually block the chamber to prevent live rounds from entering it.

Depending on aforementioned style, make, and model, there's zero aesthetic difference at all, except for safety coloration, and it would be trivially cheap for film industry armorers -- who have to hold FFL's and state entertainment firearms licenses -- to overcome.

And the kicker is it would likely cost studios less in the long run to switch, thanks to lower insurance premiums for not having firearms capable of firing live rounds on sets.

 

[Ezekiel]

Real guns nowadays look like fake guns. It's a byproduct of the firearms industry switching to primarily polymer -- especially matte polymer -- construction for frames, grips, buttstocks, barrel shrouds, optics -- basically, any component that isn't related to trigger assemblies, chambers, or barrels that need to be made of metal, to withstand the internal stresses and pressures of firing a round.

That applies even to -- hell, especially to -- wood grain-finish polymer.


I'm blaming producers and accountants. The pricks who'll spend hundreds of millions on dumbfuck effects and marketing, but won't greenlight ten to twenty thousand for training conversion kits for prop firearms likely already in studio stock. I could buy one, today, for my home defense/EDC and it costs maybe three to five hundred -- about half what the damn pistol cost in the first place -- depending on manufacturer, style, make, and model. All they are, are replacement slides and barrel assemblies, maybe trigger assemblies and custom magazines for some, and most I've ever seen or heard of actually block the chamber to prevent live rounds from entering it.

Depending on aforementioned style, make, and model, there's zero aesthetic difference at all, except for safety coloration, and it would be trivially cheap for film industry armorers -- who have to hold FFL's and state entertainment firearms licenses -- to overcome.

And the kicker is it would likely cost studios less in the long run to switch, thanks to lower insurance premiums for not having firearms capable of firing live rounds on sets.

They apparently had three accidental discharges prior. Unbelievable. But I'm blaming the actor too. Adam Baldwin is right. Some more of him:




But for rare cases of such criminal negligence, what you suggest isn't necessary.

 

[Eacaraxe]

They apparently had three accidental discharges prior. Unbelievable. But I'm blaming the actor too. Adam Baldwin is right.

I want to make this clear: I am a Second Amendment advocate. And frankly...I don't give a shit who's "right" and who's "wrong" on the level with which you're preoccupied.

This was a problem in the making before Alec Baldwin put his booger hook on the bang switch. Solve for root causes, not symptoms.

Solutions exist today to make firearms capable of chambering and firing live rounds no longer a necessity on film studio sets, and they are commercially-available to civilian purchasers and cheap. The film industry as a whole should have adopted them years, if not decades, ago. End of story.

 

[Ezekiel]

I want to make this clear: I am a Second Amendment advocate. And frankly...I don't give a shit who's "right" and who's "wrong" on the level with which you're preoccupied.

Then you should have omitted this:

I'm blaming producers and accountants.

Also, this part needs citations and math:

And the kicker is it would likely cost studios less in the long run to switch, thanks to lower insurance premiums for not having firearms capable of firing live rounds on sets.

Since your argument rests on this being cheaper.

 

[Eacaraxe]

Then you should have omitted this:

No, no I should not have. Your unwillingness to read the plain text of my posts, particularly phrases like "solve for root causes", is not my problem.

Also, this part needs citations and math:

No, no I don't believe I do. Your unwillingness to read the plain text of my posts, particularly words like "likely", nor unwillingness to accept a possibility I personally believe to be common sense like live firearms on set being a risk factor that increases production insurance costs, is not my problem.