Prop gun accident kills cinematographer and injures director

Until we get more details, I’m loath to speculate about the details. What I will say is that this is extremely unlikely to be Baldwin’s fault. Prop guns on a set are handled by a specialist who is responsible for them and the ammo, and for seeing that they’re used safely. Baldwin has used guns on set many times before e.g. The Hunt for Red October early in his career.

Baldwin said years ago that getting married again and having kids forced him back to work and take on projects that he otherwise would have passed on. Such a terrible turn of events and a heavy burden to carry around for the rest of his life. Heres hoping that the American press do not hound him too much.

It'd be definitely hard to put any blame on Baldwin for it. I saw a tweet from Michael McKean this morning saying live ammunition should never be anywhere on set. I didn't know what he was referring to as I hadn't seen this story, but he's completely right. Be interesting to see what happened. An awful tragedy all the same.

Could have been a real gun with blanks. Think blanks are still capable of causing damage and injury, or maybe there was a mixup in ammunition. Even with whatever damage a blank could do (usually would have to be very close range I think), be hard to see how it could not only kill one person but also injure another.

In the brandon lee incident the gun misfired which caused the metal casing of the blank to be ejected. It was the metal casing that killed him.

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Given there were two people struck, it sounds like there was probably something lodged in the barrel that broke up and got ejected when the blank was fired, throwing shrapnel all over the place. Very sad for everyone involved.

This might put an end to the practice of having any live weapons on set though, it's unnecessary in this day and age. Even when they use a real weapon with blanks, the audio and muzzle flash nearly always gets changed in post-production anyway.

You can get prop weapons that are weighted to look realistic and have simulated recoil. So there's literally no excuse for real weapons anymore.

Much the same happened in the 80's during the filming of Cover Up when Jon-Erik Hexum shot himself in the head with a blank. The compressed gasses and paper wadding in the bullet did the damage.

Yes most places just use blank rounds that produces a flash but has no projectile in real guns ,other propguns can only use a blank round if adapted properly,some movies will use rubber guns for certain scenes ,in saying that at close range a blank round can kill

I believe there is. an armourer.

sounds like a small movie and the DOP (and director) would be the closest, but you think they wouldn't have anything fired in their direction blank or otherwise.

Just as a follow up on the above a source said they were filiming a scene where Baldwin was backing out of a shooting and they were doing it as a close up on Baldwin shooting back.

In other words an accident and this fool is implying he did wrong. The Guardian really has gone down the toilet.

Lots of 'prop' guns operate the same as 'real' guns and plenty are real guns mislabeled as 'prop' guns simply because they fire blanks.

Blank rounds sound real, make the gun act real and tend to draw a more realistic response from people/actors on set however when not used right are still perfectly able to cause fatal injuries, and that's with them functioning perfectly.

A lot of people dont realise that there is potentially fatal debris expelled from the muzzle when a blank is fired. It's not an issue from distance but up close is the problem and it's sounds like this may have been the case here.

Not sure how this could have happened as everyone should have been trained on the use of these guns and protocols in place for their use. Ive used blanks for shows and wouldn't dream of pointing them at someone (you use perspective to trick people) and that's loaded or unloaded.

The most important rule with guns is treat them as if they are loaded AT ALL TIMES!

A truly horrible incident and feel bad for Baldwin who'll have to carry this for the rest of his days even if he was not to blame, and of course everyone else involved in this tragic incident.

Very sad, I'm sure a lawsuit will follow.

Halyna spent time here last year, quarantining in Dublin, then filming in Birr. She loved it, by all accounts. What a horrible thing to happen.

the dumbest think you will read today

I guess we labour under the impression that there are processes in place that everyone sticks to. But even that Will Smith video above, while proving Smith knows his stuff, also proves that in general, safety processes and knowledge is severely lacking. "Here's a table full of guns, pick your favourites". Nobody checking that anyone has a clue how to handle a gun, nobody handing out the weapons one-by-one, just a free-for-all, "Pick your weapon". Madness.

It would be like a building site opening up in the morning and just having the keys to all the heavy machinery on a table and telling the lads to go ahead and pick one.

Thing is a normal society with a healthy attitude to firearms you wouldn't need to do this, as nobody would be putting live ammo next nigh or near a prop gun...

I wonder is there any need for 'real' or potentially real guns on movie sets at all. Surely they can make highly accurate replicas nowadays. Maybe if the actor feels they need a bit of training on what firing the real thing feels like, do that off in a firing range, but don't bring actual guns onto the set...

There's zero reason for any film to have actual loaded weapons on set. There would be a tiny amount of people in the audience that would be able to distinguish between a real firing gun and a blank firing prop. And if someone can and makes a big deal out of it, they'd really be in need of questioning their own priorities.