Alec Baldwin kills his Director of Photography on the set of his new movie

Jayhawker

Apparently, while filming a scene for his new movie, "Rust", Mr, Baldwin killed his director of photography and wounded the movie's director with a "prop" gun...
I'm very interested in getting the details on whats sounds like a serious cluster......

Wambli Ska

Tragic that things like this happens when uneducated folks are allowed to use guns in unsafe ways…. Prayers for all involved.

HappySquid

So; If one is an "actor"  recording an entertaining event , aka "a Movie" , one can skip all the normal fire-arms safety rules handling these weapons and shoot 2 people !!! killing 1 and are still walking freely on the streets ??????????  


2 class society ?

I am clueless on this, I do feel very sorry for the victims and their families.

earlyagain

I read somewhere that in the past there was experts retained by the studios that handled firearms and trained the actors in the realistic looking handling. And that those experts were sometimes very good. Maybe something that's slipped as time passed. Like editing, QC, and customer service??? The devil will be in the details. Details, perhaps not honestly shared with the public.

JKP

Latest reports suggest one "live" round was discharged. I'd have to wonder why any live rounds are present on a movie set unless they want some sort of close up shot showing a bullet. Even then, build those cartridges with no primer and no powder. 

Elk creek

JKP said:

Latest reports suggest one "live" round was discharged. I'd have to wonder why any live rounds are present on a movie set unless they want some sort of close up shot showing a bullet. Even then, build those cartridges with no primer and no powder. 

Dang. Sad just sad. He will probably burn for this. His responsibility to check the ammo…..

Jay

Now he knows… 

Gene L

It's the Prop guy's job to check firearms.  For us, it's our responsibility, but in the movie business those guys don't know guns.  I don't like Baldwin, but in this case it's not his fault.

Diver43

How did he shoot the lady in the stomach and another with one bullet?

ojr

I've been wondering that, even with a shotgun at a reasonable distance?  kill one and wound another,, or decent sized pistol caliber gone through .? 

Gene L

Apparently went through the woman and hit the other guy in the shoulder.  He wasn't badly wounded and was treated an released.

Wambli Ska

I actually feel bad for the guy.  By everything I’ve ever heard or read about him points to him being a horrible AND stupid human, no one survives unscathed killing another human by negligence.  Your conscience will make sure if that…

Jayhawker

Diver43 said:

How did he shoot the lady in the stomach and another with one bullet?

Could have been a shotgun...

Elk creek

Jayhawker said:

Diver43 said:

How did he shoot the lady in the stomach and another with one bullet?

Could have been a shotgun...

My thoughts… would explain a lot. A side by side he snapped it shut and squeezed it off….

Japhy

Absolutely Tragic

Exactly what the hell was live ammo doing on a movie set?

Lonewolf-Peru

Japhy said:

Absolutely Tragic

Exactly what the hell was live ammo doing on a movie set?

Baldwin was the producer of the film. If they "cut unnecesary expenses" by replacing experienced people with cheap labor, you can guess whose fault it is

Jay

According to what I’m hearing, the accident supposedly happened when the director called for another take and Baldwin jokingly turned the prop gun on them and said something like “how bout I just shoot both of you” before firing the “prop gun” at them. If that’s true, prop gun or not, that’s on Baldwin. 

A hypocrite. Preaches anti LE and anti 2A junk, but has no problem playing with guns for his movies.. 

Wambli Ska

There was a big hollywood director on Fox this morning and he said since there have been several senseless deaths with prop guns they have instituted HARDCORE safety protocols and layers of safety checks while filming with guns.  He said in order for this to happen, multiple people F’d up BIG TIME and someone or a few folks will be paying dearly for this!  He was really PISSED!!!

Bigslug

The first Hollywood one I remember was John Eric Hexum screwing around by holding a prop gun to his head and pulling the trigger - - the blank had enough concussion that lack of a bullet didn't matter.

That SHOULD have been the industry equivalent of the Titanic sinking causing the major changes in shipbuilding, sufficient lifeboat space, etc...  If you're gonna have guns on the set, you safety-brief everybody and your prop masters check the guns like turning keys for a nuclear launch - - it isn't safe until TWO people say it's safe.

Complacency and/or ego?  Either a case of "Ive heard these damn safety briefs a thousand times", or "I'm the star!  This production goes nowhere without me, so I can do what I want"  That doesn't explain what fully functional ammo is doing on a film set, but probably explains how it ended up perforating two people.

Gene L

On The Five today, they said crew walked off the set because of "safety reasons."  I don't know if that's correct, but if the Prop Master walked off, they should have stopped the filming.  It's a low budget movie and I'm sure it's going to be a wrap now.

Jermanator

That was sad and tragic. I am not going to speculate on why it happened at the moment, but I do know it was 100% preventable.

Wambli Ska

Gene L said:

On The Five today, they said crew walked off the set because of "safety reasons."  I don't know if that's correct, but if the Prop Master walked off, they should have stopped the filming.  It's a low budget movie and I'm sure it's going to be a wrap now.

Not only that but the Armorer was a young 20s woman who admitted in an interview she was not ready for the job, and that loading blanks scared her and she called her Dad for direction…. You have to be kidding me…

Justsomedude

I have a customer that does war reenactments. He's brought me a multitude of guns to have the barrels removed and blank fire barrels installed. Last was a Thompson. It will ONLY accept blanks. You can't even remotely close the bolt on a live round. I guess I just always assumed that Hollywood was doing the same.

Jeff in TX

From what I've read, a live round in Hollywood is a functioning blank round, not a live round as we would know it.  All movies sets employee an armorer when firearms are being used.  His job is to check and make sure the weapon is ready for shooting with the appropriate live rounds, or empty for rehearsals.  This was a rehearsal so why was there a live round in the shotgun.  Next, why didn't the armorer check and hand Baldwin an empty shotgun?  Why didn't Baldwin double check it?  Loose practices and lots of assuming!

This also means the shotgun was probably stored with a live round, which is a big no no!  Also, someone told me there was a strike of some kind in Hollywood and unhappy workers on the set.  Did someone sabotage the shotgun with a live round.  Tons of unanswered questions. 

It's going to take time to unravel all this.  My prayers go out to the gal that was killed and the other person shot!  This is just not good.

Bigslug

Justsomedude said:

I have a customer that does war reenactments. He's brought me a multitude of guns to have the barrels removed and blank fire barrels installed. Last was a Thompson. It will ONLY accept blanks. You can't even remotely close the bolt on a live round. I guess I just always assumed that Hollywood was doing the same.

There are undoubtedly a lot of little technical issues with running various guns on blanks that you have to deal with on the fly.  When you're paying the cast, the crew, the extras, and have to get a shot before the sun sets or your clouds blow away, there's probably often a bit of doing what you have to do.

The short version is you can't plan for and officially regulate all of that, so you need someone on hand who (A.) has pretty much total authority over anything that might go boom; (B.) intimately understands how the goofy blank conversions work; and (C.) is sufficiently empowered by the studio to be able to slap an overpaid prima donna upside the head when they do something stupid without fear of getting fired.

Gene L

Jeff in TX said:

From what I've read, a live round in Hollywood is a functioning blank round, not a live round as we would know it.  All movies sets employee an armorer when firearms are being used.  His job is to check and make sure the weapon is ready for shooting with the appropriate live rounds, or empty for rehearsals.  This was a rehearsal so why was there a live round in the shotgun.  Next, why didn't the armorer check and hand Baldwin an empty shotgun?  Why didn't Baldwin double check it?  Loose practices and lots of assuming!

This also means the shotgun was probably stored with a live round, which is a big no no!  Also, someone told me there was a strike of some kind in Hollywood and unhappy workers on the set.  Did someone sabotage the shotgun with a live round.  Tons of unanswered questions. 

It's going to take time to unravel all this.  My prayers go out to the gal that was killed and the other person shot!  This is just not good.

Was it a shotgun?  I figured it was a revolver as I believe "Rust" is a Western.  Baldwin I'm sure doesn't know if a round was in there or not.  We would check the gun to see if it's loaded, but that's only because we're familiar with firearms.

Jeff in TX

I’m not sure, I saw an interview and the person was holding a shotgun so I assumed. You’re probably right, it probably was a pistol. Again not enough info or facts. If I got it wrong, my bad!

orchidman

My sympathies to those and their families involved. This should never have happened.

Gene L

I agree that it should never have happened.  WHY it happened will be the subject of a lot of speculation.  I mean, we all know what should have been done, but the fact that a gun was on the set is impossible to grasp.  Brandon Lee was shot by a .44 mag, I think from a projectile hung in the barrel and a blank behind it.  You would think prop wranglers would know all that.  That the prop master had to check with her father on how to load the gun is significant.

Jayhawker

Wambli Ska said:

Gene L said:

On The Five today, they said crew walked off the set because of "safety reasons."  I don't know if that's correct, but if the Prop Master walked off, they should have stopped the filming.  It's a low budget movie and I'm sure it's going to be a wrap now.

Not only that but the Armorer was a young 20s woman who admitted in an interview she was not ready for the job, and that loading blanks scared her and she called her Dad for direction…. You have to be kidding me…

Interestingly, she is Thell Reeds daughter...and has obviously been immersed in firearms safety her entire life....
However...she's not the fool who pulled the trigger...

For a few minutes I tried putting myself in Baldwin's shoes...imagining what I would say if I had just shot two people while acting the ass
..None of what I came up with had anything to do with blaming the person who gave me the gun....

jbp-ohio

Jayhawker said:

Wambli Ska said:

Gene L said:

On The Five today, they said crew walked off the set because of "safety reasons."  I don't know if that's correct, but if the Prop Master walked off, they should have stopped the filming.  It's a low budget movie and I'm sure it's going to be a wrap now.

Not only that but the Armorer was a young 20s woman who admitted in an interview she was not ready for the job, and that loading blanks scared her and she called her Dad for direction…. You have to be kidding me…

Interestingly, she is Thell Reeds daughter...and has obviously been immersed in firearms safety her entire life....
However...she's not the fool who pulled the trigger...

For a few minutes I tried putting myself in Baldwin's shoes...imagining what I would say if I had just shot two people while acting the ass
..None of what I came up with had anything to do with blaming the person who gave me the gun....

I completely disagree. If I were the armorer on a movie, I wouldn't want an untrained actor trying to check or clear anything. From my hand to his hand and back into my hand.