Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins died after Alec Baldwin discharged a prop gun on set. Her death raises many questions about gun safety in the film industry.
Experts say the fatal accident could have been avoided...
Experts say the fatal accident could have been avoided...
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00:00What happened was that someone had this in the gun instead of having this in the gun,
00:09which is a blank bullet with a projectile, blank with no projectile.
00:15There's no reason why a simulated firearm or that a simulated firearm should be pointed
00:33at any person in a room at any time.
00:35This was a totally avoidable incident and should never happen again.
00:42When they say prop gun, what they really are not really properly naming it is it's not
00:55it was not a prop gun.
00:57It was literally a real gun with blanks in it.
01:24The difference between a blank and an actual bullet is that a blank isn't a projectile,
01:31but it still creates combustion, which is why you have the sound, but there is still
01:37a lot of force.
01:58When you go on a set, the last five I've been on where I was a cop or a cowboy, they check
02:05your guns, the armorer.
02:07That's their job to make sure that you get the gun for the scene.
02:10When you're using a firearm on a set as an actor, what should happen is a prop master
02:16that really there are very few people who can come in contact with the weapon.
02:20And that's a rule.
02:21They start with a safety meeting for the entire crew whenever you're going to do any sort
02:25of stunt, but also specifically like with a firearm.
02:28And then when they bring it to you, only you and the prop master, the ones who handle it,
02:33they open it up and then you hold on to it and you don't touch it unless you're in the
02:36scene using it.
02:38Once the simulated firearm is out of its lockbox in the space, it's announced that it is there.
02:45It is also announced whether or not it is charged, which means that it does or does
02:51not have blanks in it.
02:53And then it is known to the entire cast and crew or taught ahead of time that only the
03:01people who are in that type of choreography, they're the only ones who are allowed to touch
03:06it at any point in time.
03:09And the people who are instructed to or are a part of that combat are told not to point
03:16it at anyone at any time unless it is in choreographed combat.
03:31You want to have, you know, people who are in the union who know all the protocols and
03:51who are following all the protocols rather than somebody who isn't as experienced, hasn't
03:57done this on a set and doesn't follow the rules that are guidelines for everybody's
04:02safety.
04:03And, you know, it can come down to budget to hire those more expensive people with that
04:07experience. But I think if you're doing something with a weapon, that's a priority.
04:28Twenty seven year old Brandon Lee was killed during a movie set accident today.
04:33He was filming the scene for the movie The Crow when he was hit by a projectile fired
04:38from a gun loaded with blanks.
04:57Technology, as it is now, you know, I don't know that it's necessary to have blanks when
05:05you have a visual effects budget, you can do that and get the same effect and have zero
05:10risk of something going wrong.
05:12Seeing something of this scale and proportion that's so unnecessary and could have been
05:17avoided is just tragic on so many levels.