[suzzer99]

LA Times has more articles up on this.

https://www.latimes.com/entertainmen...ks-rounds-more

Still, productions regularly use operational firearms, arguably to add realism to the scene and authenticity to an actor’s performance. When an operational firearm is used on set, a licensed armorer or a prop master is responsible for monitoring every step of its use: loading and unloading the weapon, checking the barrel to avoid any issue with materials left inside after every take, showing its status to actors and assistant directors, instructing actors on its proper use — the latter to maintain the story’s realism as well as everyone’s safety.

Additionally, the armorer or a stunt coordinator choreographs gunfire action sequences, works with the cinematographer to determine which camera angles will minimize risk of injury and ensures that no cast or crew member is in a firing lane, or the path of the weapon, when it is fired, said Michael Lubke, a fight director and stunt coordinator for theater and movies. Anyone in close range usually is required to wear protective items such as shields or safety glasses when the cameras are rolling. “No human should ever be in the firing lane,” Lubke said.

The systems currently in place work well when followed. “Absent some sort of defect on the gun itself or the cartridge misfiring or something like that, there is literally no way this can happen if the people in charge are following safety protocols that have been drafted and in effect for years related to firearms on a set,” said Jeff Harris, an attorney who has represented the families of people who have died on film and TV sets.

“The problem is when people get complacent and don’t follow the systems, then that’s when we have these accidents on movie sets,” he continued. “It’s just unfortunate that we have to have these kinds of things occur before people really say. ‘You know what, we’ve got to follow these written policies and we have to do it to a T. Otherwise, one mistake, somebody dies.’”

The Times reported that the industry’s safety protocols, including gun inspections, were not strictly followed on set, and multiple misfires involving prop guns had previously occurred.

“There were no safety meetings, there was no assurance that it wouldn’t happen again,” said a crew member. “All they wanted to do was rush, rush, rush.” Production on the movie has been halted indefinitely.

https://www.latimes.com/entertainmen...w-does-it-work

In addition to blank rounds, dummy rounds sometimes are used on set. These are designed to look like real bullets but contain no gunpowder. They can be used in closeup shots for effect.

When actor Brandon Lee was killed in 1993 on the set of “The Crow,” The Times reported that the projectile tip of a dummy round was accidentally lodged in a gun chamber; it was then propelled out of the gun by a blank cartridge.

Sounds like dummy rounds and then blanks is a very bad combination and may have been what happened here.