Real life accidents on film/tv sets

[wedgeski]

Why was he firing a gun at the cinematographer though?

I think he should bear some responsibility for this.

They were rehearsing a scene, that Funt described. The pistol had live rounds, which was used by crew for shooting beer cans in the spare time, hours before the incident.

Taking weapons that are going to be used on set and putting live rounds in them EVER is stupefyingly brain-dead behaviour.

[Link Prime]

Not been following the story much, but very sad for that young woman.
I fell quite sorry for Alec Baldwin too, poor fecker will probably never get another good nights sleep for the rest of his life.

[rogue69]

KILL BILL Uma Thurman
Near the end of filming, Thurman was injured in a crash while filming the scene in which she drives to Bill. According to Thurman, she was uncomfortable driving the car and asked a stunt driver to do it; Tarantino assured her that the car and road were safe. She lost control of the car and hit a tree, suffering a concussion and damage to her knees.

[Tiplodocus]

I notice stories about Baldwin being difficult and abusive on other productions are surfacing.

[Jim_Campbell]

I notice stories about Baldwin being difficult and abusive on other productions are surfacing.

This is not the same thing as being handed a prop weapon that has been declared safe by the person whose job it is to certify a weapon as safe to handle.

[Tiplodocus]

Sorry I wasn't clear. I meant there's obviously some shitty PR starting against him

[The Legendary Shark]

This is not the same thing as being handed a prop weapon that has been declared safe by the person whose job it is to certify a weapon as safe to handle.

I grew up around guns (mainly shotguns and airguns), and being handed a gun and told that it's safe is no excuse. The person who is going to pull the trigger is, in my view, entirely responsible for making sure the weapon is safe. (Checking the load and firing a couple of test shots at an inanimate target would suffice - even if this had to be done under close supervision.)

[M.I.K.]

I also grew up around guns* and wouldn't expect an actor, someone who spends their working day immersed in fiction and special effects, someone who pretends to do all kinds of things from the most mundane to the impossible, someone who is surrounded by people whose job it is to do everything for them that doesn't involve acting, people whose job it is to make sure everything is comfortable and safe for them so they don't have to worry about anything but pretending convincingly, to be held accountable for eff all when handed something and told it's safe.

Because the actor potentially hasn't grown up around guns. Anyone handing a gun to an actor should always assume that the actor is an ignorant moron.




* I haven't actually fired one since I was a child, (and that's not a joke).

[The Legendary Shark]

And the actor being handed the gun should always assume that the person handing it to them is a human being capable of making mistakes.

[sheridan]

I also grew up around guns* and wouldn't expect an actor, someone who spends their working day immersed in fiction and special effects, someone who pretends to do all kinds of things from the most mundane to the impossible, someone who is surrounded by people whose job it is to do everything for them that doesn't involve acting, people whose job it is to make sure everything is comfortable and safe for them so they don't have to worry about anything but pretending convincingly, to be held accountable for eff all when handed something and told it's safe.

Because the actor potentially hasn't grown up around guns. Anyone handing a gun to an actor should always assume that the actor is an ignorant moron.




* I haven't actually fired one since I was a child, (and that's not a joke).

Pretty much what I'd say - I grew up among some guns (not to a US survivalist extent more a British rural context) and I wouldn't expect somebody who hasn't grown up around guns to know gun etiquette especially when everything else you deal with is fake (false doors, building facades, why would you expect a weapon to be the genuine article?)

[Jim_Campbell]

And the actor being handed the gun should always assume that the person handing it to them is a human being capable of making mistakes.

The armourer is paid to not make mistakes. It's literally their whole job. They're paid to make sure no one kills anyone with the weapons on set. If I get on a plane, I assume that both the pilot and co-pilot are capable of getting the plane off the ground, keeping it on course to its intended destination, and getting it back on the ground without killing everyone. It's really not an unreasonable assumption.

[The Legendary Shark]

...why would you expect a weapon to be the genuine article?

Why would you expect a mix-up to be impossible? All the situation requires is a day's (or even half a day's) training for any actor expected to "fire a gun."

[The Legendary Shark]

If I get on a plane, I assume that both the pilot and co-pilot are capable of getting the plane off the ground, keeping it on course to its intended destination, and getting it back on the ground without killing everyone. It's really not an unreasonable assumption.

Pilots are expected to check their aircraft before take off, even if it's just come out of the maintenance hangar after being worked on by expert aviation engineers.

[Mister Pops]

...why would you expect a weapon to be the genuine article?

Why would you expect a mix-up to be impossible? All the situation requires is a day's (or even half a day's) training for any actor expected to "fire a gun."

It's my understanding that the reason real firearms with blanks are used on film sets, is because they're the cheapest, simplest way to film a firearm discharging. If your A-list actor has to go on a course, even just for half a day, that's time they're not on set, filming is delayed and I don't think a big-name actor is going to go on a training course for free. Or even accept that they need the training in the first place. So by that point it would probably be simpler and cheaper to start using replica/decommissioned firearms and special effects and have no live weapons on set at all.

This is all just speculation* of course, because I know the square root of fuck all about Hollywood/California gun laws and the insurance implications for studios, or how any of that impacts on A-list actor contract negotiations.

*and by that I mean worthless bullshittery

[Tjm86]

... why would you expect a weapon to be the genuine article?

Many moons ago when I was stationed at Brize Norton we were live armed on guard duty.  As Brize was (is?) the parachute training school the paras would be back and forth.  One Friday night an inebriated para decided as a bit of a joke to pull a water pistol out at the main gate. 

The guard in the sanger providing cover didn't think twice before chambering a round and the muppet nearly got a 7.62mm trepanning for his trouble.  It was dark and the alert status was generally incredibly high what with the activities of Irish 'tourists'.

Given the number of reports we hear on this side of the pond of US police killing someone who has pulled a replica / imitation firearm it would appear that the better question is "why would you expect a weapon not to be the genuine article."