Thursday鈥檚 shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins by a prop revolver during filming for the Alec Baldwin Western 鈥淩ust鈥� has the screen industry pondering the future of guns on sets.
Toronto producer Martin Katz of Prospero Pictures says the tragedy near Santa Fe, N.M., raises the question of whether the industry should start using more non-functioning firearms.
Summerland, B.C.-based motion picture and TV property master Dean Goodine predicts the industry will step up gun safety measures, like it did when Brandon Lee was killed by a bullet left in a prop gun on the set of 鈥淭he Crow鈥� in 1993.
Court records say Baldwin pulled the trigger on the revolver that also wounded director Joel Souza during a rehearsal in Santa Fe after an assistant director told him it was 鈥渃old鈥� 鈥� an industry term for a gun that can鈥檛 fire.
Experts say they鈥檙e baffled by what Baldwin has called a 鈥渢ragic accident,鈥� since sets typically have strict and sufficient protocols in place for handling prop firearms, which should never go off near people or be pointed directly at anyone on set.
Katz wonders if the industry should use more realistic replicas, like 3D-printed models, and avoid showing them in extreme close-ups so audiences can鈥檛 tell the difference.
鈥淪o much of what we use in practical effects is not what it appears to be. When we make it snow, it鈥檚 not actually snow, it鈥檚 soap flakes or some product that was created to look like snow. Why, when we use guns on set, do we actually use real guns?鈥� says Katz, whose credits include the films 鈥淐osmopolis鈥� and 鈥淎killa鈥檚 Escape.鈥�
鈥淢aybe this is the time towards saying: 鈥榃e don鈥檛 need to shoot movies with actual real guns. We can shoot them with models.鈥欌��
As Goodine describes it, prop guns are often real weapons that could fire a live round but instead are often loaded with 鈥渂lanks鈥� 鈥� cartridges with gun powder and other material to ignite a flame and sound but no projectile bullet.
On-set guns can also include electric revolvers and CO2-powered versions, similar to pellet guns.
Usually a professional weapons expert called an 鈥渁rmourer鈥� will be on set to test and take care of the gun and closely monitor the actor handling it, say experts.
Only the armourer or trained prop master or qualified crew member, along with the actor, are allowed to touch the firearm, says Goodine. The actor isn鈥檛 given the firearm until the very last minute before filming, when everyone gets out of the line of fire, and never handles it during rehearsal.
Toronto producer Don Carmody says in most major jurisdictions in Canada, police officers supervise use of blanks or pyrotechnics on set. Camera crews are also often protected by a sheet of Plexiglas if a blank is fired.
鈥淕enerally the safety protocols on a set, certainly anywhere in Canada, are really strenuously observed, right down to the (emergency task force) officers on the stage,鈥� says Carmody, whose credits include 鈥淭he Boondock Saints鈥� and 鈥淩esident Evil鈥� film franchises.
But problems have happened on home soil.
Carmody says on the set of the 1991 Chuck Norris film 鈥淭he Hitman鈥� he produced in Vancouver, a barrel constrictor came loose on an automatic weapon using blanks and hit a stuntman. The wetsuit he was wearing as a safety measure wasn鈥檛 big enough and the barrel constrictor flew into a gap in the clothing, hitting his liver, but he survived.
Goodine says the Lee tragedy saw the industry increase the amount of armourers on sets 鈥渢enfold.鈥�
He predicts the 鈥淩ust鈥� killing will see more companies 鈥渕ove away from firing blanks entirely.鈥�
鈥淩ight now, probably every script in Hollywood is getting a hard look to see what they can write instead of guns,鈥� says Goodine, whose credits include 鈥淟egends of the Fall,鈥� 鈥淧asschendaele鈥� and 鈥淚nception.鈥�
鈥淚f you have a police show and somebody pulls out their Glock and they鈥檙e going to fire it, they鈥檙e going to CGI the muzzle flash. You鈥檙e going to see a lot more CO2.鈥�
The 鈥渕uzzle flash鈥� is the light and impact of the gun.
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Experts say in most cases, the muzzle flash and gun smoke could be easily replaced by sound and CGI, which is often preferable to an actual gun going off.
Goodine says in the past five years, gun scenes have been written out of a lot of the family projects he鈥檚 worked on.
But he鈥檚 also noticed prep periods being condensed and decisions being made at the last-minute, which pose a safety hazard for any gun scenes.
He advises film students not to race to be department heads, so they have the experience and confidence to tell a director not to do something that鈥檚 unsafe.
鈥淭he speed the industry has grown in the last eight years because of new media has put so many people in positions they shouldn鈥檛 be in, and I鈥檓 not hard on the people that have taken those positions,鈥� says Goodine.
鈥淚 have had so many conversations in the last seven or eight years with people who are in management of these shows that have no clue what we do. It is astonishing to me. I had an accountant tell me on a big show that props is an afterthought in the budget. Well, after (Thursday), it鈥檚 not an afterthought anymore.鈥�
Victoria Ahearn, The Canadian Press
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