Alec Baldwin Fatally shoots Woman with Prop Gun on Movie Set

[Moxie]

Based on the above TZN online article , what stands out are why was their at least one real gun complete with live bullets brought to the set and reportedly being used off the set?

Who made these decisions? There are a number of producers associated with the "Rust" production, including Baldwin.

And who made the decision (and why) to employ a young inexperienced female armorer?

I work in the industry, but rarely when there is use of firearms, so I am no expert on this, either. I will say, and AP posted this, too...if the guns were being used in any way off-set, this would be SO far off of safety protocols that I still don't believe that that is true. IF anyone on the crew participated in off-hours target practice with live ammo and guns that were supposed to be secured when not on-set, then they become morally complicit. This could only be seen as a cavalier attitude on the part of everyone in terms of safety. But, as I said, I will be shocked if that happened. (I will also make the point that one of the grievances of the crew was that they had to travel 1 hour each way to set, and the hours were long, so I'm not sure what spare time they had for target practice.)

To your question as to who made the decision to hire an experienced armorer, and why: the producers hire the crew, and the why has to be because she was available and worked cheap. And they probably relied too heavily on the fact that her father is an experienced armorer in Hollywood, and she trained under him. But that is not sound reasoning.

I will say that we do (sometimes) use real guns. I have. They shoot blanks. I have never been on any project where there was real ammo, however. There are several petitions going around to end the use of any real firearms on sets in the US. That it should all be done in post. I was on the fence for awhile, but I now support this.

 

[Vince Evert]

I work in the industry, but rarely when there is use of firearms, so I am no expert on this, either. I will say, and AP posted this, too...if the guns were being used in any way off-set, this would be SO far off of safety protocols that I still don't believe that that is true. IF anyone on the crew participated in off-hours target practice with live ammo and guns that were supposed to be secured when not on-set, then they become morally complicit. This could only be seen as a cavalier attitude on the part of everyone in terms of safety. But, as I said, I will be shocked if that happened. (I will also make the point that one of the grievances of the crew was that they had to travel 1 hour each way to set, and the hours were long, so I'm not sure what spare time they had for target practice.)

To your question as to who made the decision to hire an inexperienced armorer, and why: the producers hire the crew, and the why has to be because she was available and worked cheap. And they probably relied too heavily on the fact that her father is an experienced armorer in Hollywood, and she trained under him. But that is not sound reasoning. I would not be at all surprised if she is eventually made a scapegoat in this horrible tragedy. But the producer(s) who hired her should be more accountable especially if they were looking at cutting corners with the film's budget.

I will say that we do (sometimes) use real guns. I have. They shoot blanks. I have never been on any project where there was real ammo, however. There are several petitions going around to end the use of any real firearms on sets in the US. Do you mean as an aftermath of this? Or before ? That it should all be done in past. I was on the fence for awhile, but I now support this. Good on you Mox. As mention before, let's hope something positive (safety protocols) comes out of this tragedy and the poor cinematographer did not loose her life in vain.

 

[Moxie]

Let me just say, that cinematographer lost her life "in vain." For no reason. In service of a crappy movie that will now not even get made. This was a preventable tragedy, as was Brandon Lee's death, and Sarah Jones's, who died on a bridge in GA. Their deaths should have prevented Halyna Hutchins' death, but they didn't. I hope something changes after this, and the climate and the industry is ripe for it, but we'll see. And, no, there was never any call for keeping firearms off of set before this.

 

[Vince Evert]

Let me just say, that cinematographer lost her life "in vain." For no reason. In service of a crappy movie that will now not even get made. This was a preventable tragedy, as was Brandon Lee's death, and Sarah Jones's, who died on a bridge in GA. Their deaths should have prevented Halyna Hutchins' death, but they didn't. I hope something changes after this, and the climate and the industry is ripe for it, but we'll see. And, no, there was never any call for keeping firearms off of set before this.

I fear you could be right. Based on three decades ago where Hollywood and the filmmaking industry never learned from Brendon Lee's death.