Movie set death

[richhodg66]

Saw just now where another crew member on a movie set was killed by a prop gun with blanks. Besides Brandon Lee in the '90s, this has happened a lot more often than people realize. Most of us learn early on about muzzle discipline and gun safety, I guess when you're a big name actor, you can afford to not worry about the people around you and their well being.

 

[Petrol & Powder]

I don't know the details about the current event involving Alec Baldwin, but muzzle discipline doesn't factor into acting. When a scene calls for an actor to point, and sometimes fire, a gun at someone else; by necessity there will be NO muzzle discipline.

The errors that occur on stage, TV and movie sets come from poor control of props.

Actors point guns, usually real guns, at other people all the time. That’s just part of the scene. The safety comes from the handling of the props, including control of blanks and dummy ammunition. Poor attention to detail in the prop department will get people killed.

 

[Petrol & Powder]

The death of Brandon Lee occurred in 1993. A S&W model 629 was used as a prop gun. It was loaded with dummy rounds in one scene. This is commonly done on sets when the director wants to show the gun is loaded or wants to depict an actor loading or unloading a gun as part of a scene. Dummy rounds, consisting of a casing with a bullet, inactive primer, and no powder; have the appearance of a live cartridge. On the Brandon Lee set, live primers were inadvertently used. This created a squib cartridge instead of a true dummy round.

The gun was fired in one scene and the bullet lodged in the barrel of that model 629. In a later scene, that same gun was loaded with blanks and fired at Lee. When the blank was fired, the bullet was driven out of the barrel just as if the gun had been loaded with a live round. The result was the death of Lee.

Like most accidents, that was a series of failures. The dummy rounds should not have been assembled with live primers. When the gun was fired with the live primer, the resulting detonation of the primer should have brought the set to a full halt and an inspection of the gun. And the gun should have been inspected, including the bore, before blanks were loaded into the gun.

We don’t know the details of the current event, but I strongly suspect we will find multiple safety failures occurred on that set.

 

[Rick]

I too read the article, zero details of what happened. It's beyond odd that a blank round could/would kill one and put a second person in the hospital. The article said the "Director" was injured and sent to the hospital but it wasn't the director, it was the director of photography. Director of photography is the head of the camera department not the director of the show. It also happened in New Mexico, a common shooting location for scab shows which possibly could indicate far less trained/experienced people. Without at least some details of what happened there is nothing but speculation.

With 34 years in that business I've been on the sets of thousands of shows, both TV and feature films. Nearly exclusively the guns used are not real guns but rubber mock ups. Real firearms are used when when blanks are fired. The prop master is responsible for all firearms used in the show, rubber or real. He is also responsible for the blank ammo used and all training of all personnel that will handle any firearms or ammo and locking up and keeping them safe. The article didn't even mention the prop master, what kind of firearm, ammo, distance from the shooter to victim(s) or any other details.

 

[Petrol & Powder]

Rick, would you agree that the current event is likely the result of poor control of props?

 

[Rick]

Dummy rounds, consisting of a casing with a bullet, inactive primer, and no powder; have the appearance of a live cartridge.

Yes exactly. The dummy rounds are easy enough to identify though. It is the case, bullet and a completely empty primer cup. These rounds are identified by a hole drilled through the primer cup. They are used primarily in revolvers where a view from the muzzle end shows the bullet in the cylinder.

 

[Rick]

Rick, would you agree that the current event is likely the result of poor control of props?

Sounds much to me like a scab show with little to no control over anything. But again with zero details of the incident it's all speculation. I can't help but wonder if it was indeed a blank round. Pretty rare on any set to have live rounds but . . .

 

[Rick]

Also many though not all dummy rounds in addition to a hole drilled in the primer cup have another hole drilled in the side of the case just above the web. These holes indicate even to a dummy that there is no primer and no powder.

 

[Petrol & Powder]

We do not have the details at this point but several sources are indicating that Baldwin fired a prop gun and that resulted in the injuries.
We can't read too much into that limited information.

However, It IS common practice for actors to point guns, often real guns, at people on set. Sometimes those guns are pointed at other actors and sometimes they are pointed at a camera (with people behind the camera). That's just part of the performance.

 

[Bruce Drake]

Sounds much to me like a scab show with little to no control over anything. But again with zero details of the incident it's all speculation. I can't help but wonder if it was indeed a blank round. Pretty rare on any set to have live rounds but . . .

Alec Baldwin as producer of this western movie and running a scab show ...such a good socialist gungrabber...

 

[Rick]

I don't know that it was a scab show, zero information in the article. I do know that New Mexico is where a lot of scab shows go to film and get away from the unions.

 

[Petrol & Powder]

I have ZERO use for Alec Baldwin. His political views are as far from mine as possible and there is a large body of evidence that he is a total jerk in his personal life. However, it appears this recent event is a tragic accident and not a malicious act.

Actors place a tremendous amount of trust in the people they work with. Actors abdicate a lot of personal responsibility to prop masters, stunt men and women, drivers, safety supervisors, etc. That trust is necessary to accomplish the work they do.

 

[Rick]

And the term "prop gun" indicates nothing more than a gun handled by an actor. Anything handled by any actor is a prop. Anything in the background, say something sitting on a table (even the table) or whatever is set dressing. If the actor handles it it's a prop. Set dressing and the prop departments are two separate departments within the show. Both are part of the "Art Department".

 

[Rick]

However, it appears this recent event is a tragic accident and not a malicious act.

Well for more speculation . . . Wouldn't it be shocking to learn that someone on the set intentionally replaced blank ammo with live rounds?

Another thing the article doesn't mention. The dead woman was a producer not an actor. Why was Baldwin pointing a gun at her? The director of photography is never in front of the camera during a scene, how did he get shot?

 

[fiver]

might not have been part of the filming..

 

[Rick]

Just read another article that said it was during a rehearsal. That brings up even more questions. Live ammo on any set is mighty rare. Live ammo during a rehearsal is beyond shocking.

 

[Wiresguy]

There have been several references to "scab show". Is this terminology used to indicate non-union workers? Or is it in reference to something specific in the movie industry?

 

[Rick]

Non-union . . . . Many people work on scab shows to get the experience to get in the industry. Shows producers go scab because these people work for very little with no benefits.

 

[Charles Graff]

There is a very old legal principal "res ipsa loquiter", which means, the think speaks for itself. In the case at hand, the death and injury would not have happened without some serious negligence on behalf of the prop person or persons. Just who was negligent and how he/she was negligent will come out by and by. I like New Mexico and do not like Alex Baldwin, but neither of those has any bearing on the case at hand.

At any rate, the production company will have oodles of insurance and it will take a big hit.

 

[Wiresguy]

Thanks for the explanation, Rick.