Yeesh - Alec Baldwin just plopped into a world of hurt

[RedinTexas]

Originally Posted by splatbass

Based on what, your dislike of him? Why don't you wait until the facts come out before making up your mind that he is guilty?

Based on simple knowledge of gun safety. Can you tell me how he could have shot two people and killed one of them if he had been following the rules of gun safety?

[splatbass]

Originally Posted by RedinTexas

Based on simple knowledge of gun safety. Can you tell me how he could have shot two people and killed one of them if he had been following the rules of gun safety?

It was supposed to be a prop gun. As the expert who is being brought in to investigate the shooting said, a prop gun is modified so it won't accept a cartridge with a bullet on it, only blanks. If the propmaster (who is in charge of props and safety) hands him a gun that is not a modified prop gun how would the actor know? In addition, he could have been following the safety rules on movie sets by not firing directly at another actor, but to the side of them. But if he fired to the side of an actor, but the crew was behind him in the distance a tragic accident could happen through no fault of the guy firing the gun (who believes it is a modified prop gun and has followed all safety rules).

I grew up shooting and have huge respect for gun safety, but this is not a normal situation. You are letting your political hatred of him color your opinion instead of the facts.

[FlaChief58]

Originally Posted by splatbass

It was supposed to be a prop gun. As the expert who is being brought in to investigate the shooting said, a prop gun is modified so it won't accept a cartridge with a bullet on it, only blanks. If the propmaster (who is in charge of props and safety) hands him a gun that is not a modified prop gun how would the actor know? In addition, he could have been following the safety rules on movie sets by not firing directly at another actor, but to the side of them. But if he fired to the side of an actor, but the crew was behind him in the distance a tragic accident could happen through no fault of the guy firing the gun (who believes it is a modified prop gun and has followed all safety rules).

I grew up shooting and have huge respect for gun safety, but this is not a normal situation. You are letting your political hatred of him color your opinion instead of the facts.

First 2 rules of gun safety are treat every gun as if it were loaded and NEVER point a gun at someone unless you plan on shooting them. He failed on both accounts.

[wazu]

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.

[ptlyon]

Made... In Georgia

[RealSNR]

This reminds me of a story my dad told me when he played trumpet in his high school's orchestra. They were playing an easier arrangement of the 1812 Overture, but the director nevertheless wanted to have a cannon. He came up with a solution where the percussionist (back in the 60s when you could do this kind of thing) would fire a shotgun blank into a sandbox. Worked like a charm and provided a suitable enough effect.

Well, the shotgun had been used over the weekend and returned to the school for the Monday evening concert. Nobody bothered to check if the shotgun was empty.

So the big moment in the music happens... the student aims at the sandbox...

...and blasts a hole right through the damn stage!

[DaFace]

With a heavy caveat that I can't verify that this person knows what they're talking about, here's a good description of typical protocols on a film set (from a random redditor):

So if you are on a production where a blank-firing gun is to be used, the Prop Master and/or Armorer will clear it with production, even down to the details of how many rounds will be shot for the sequence they will be used in.

Fast forward to the day. The Armorer/Licensed Prop Master and potentially a Prop Assistant will bring the weapons under close supervision, often times to the point of bringing a locked cart or gun vault to set. The person assigned to handling the weapon will, themself, check the weapon for blockages or even a loaded chamber. They will ensure the weapon is cleaned and check all firing blanks to ensure they are, in fact, crimped shut rounds with only powder in them. Once this is finished, they will bring the firearm to the First AD or otherwise supervising AD where you, typically with the Director and Actor wielding the weapon, will perform the same checks together.

The AD will have, prior to this check, have held at least one safety meeting, discussing with the entire crew the live gunfire that will be playing that day. The Actor will have, prior to this check, had gun training either on his own or provided to him by Production. This training should have shown him proper gun etiquette, including NEVER pointing a gun (loaded or not) at a crew member or any other human being not involved with the scene. The crew would know not to even look at those weapons funny.

For rehearsals, typically you rehearse with a dry weapon first (no blanks, perhaps even with rubber weapons.) After the motions have been finalized, you may have one or two rehearsals with live gunfire, which everyone on crew would be warned of. During this and every subsequent take, the gun would be checked with the actor and the person supervising the weapon. As far as I’ve done, seen, and been taught, you would check and clear every round with the actor either beforehand or in between each take.

I don’t know why I typed that all out. I think I wanted to just show people that there is a process to make this as safe as possible but to also highlight the fact that it is very, very much prone to human error and there is, at the end of the day, a high amount of trust given to each person in this process. I truly can’t tell where the failure here was…but it is horrific that, through all of these checks, something still happened. Horrific in a strangely personal way.

https://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comm...re_on/hhkdpyo/

[jd1020]

Originally Posted by DaFace

With a heavy caveat that I can't verify that this person knows what they're talking about, here's a good description of typical protocols on a film set (from a random redditor):



https://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comm...re_on/hhkdpyo/

From what I've read, this film was so low budget that it probably didn't have half of those check systems.

[PHOG]

“Rust” is a Tier 1 one movie, meaning it was being produced for under $6 million. Our source says: “They had safety meetings every day but it was a Tier I movie, so they probably didn’t have more than 1 prop person.” According to the imdb, there was one key medic on the staff and two stunt people.

https://www.showbiz411.com/2021/10/2...h-both-victims

[jd1020]

Originally Posted by PHOG

“Rust” is a Tier 1 one movie, meaning it was being produced for under $6 million. Our source says: “They had safety meetings every day but it was a Tier I movie, so they probably didn’t have more than 1 prop person.” According to the imdb, there was one key medic on the staff and two stunt people.

https://www.showbiz411.com/2021/10/2...h-both-victims

$6M and you have to pay Alec Baldwin. Wonder how many shortcuts that leads to.

[stumppy]

Originally Posted by jd1020

$6M and you have to pay Alec Baldwin. Wonder how many shortcuts that leads to.

Probably not much since it was his movie.

[jd1020]

Originally Posted by stumppy

Probably not much since it was his movie.

Didn't know that. $6M is still really really low budget for today.

[ptlyon]

Sounds like the meth house of a movie set

[ptlyon]

Quick - get the Kinks as the musical guest on SNL