On Oct. 21, news from the film industry shocked the world when notable actor Alec Baldwin accidentally shot and killed a crewmember with a prop gun. The film’s director of photography, Halyna Hutchins, died after she was struck in the chest with an actual bullet. Joel Souza, the film’s director, was shot in the shoulder and injured.
The film, titled “Rust,” is now shut down until an investigation is completed. Ironically, the film is about a teenage boy on the run after an accidental shooting, according to the New York Times. During an interview with the Hollywood Reporter, Baldwin said the idea came from the story of the youngest person to be hanged in the United States. The movie was to be filmed during October and November near Santa Fe, New Mexico and would employ 75 crewmembers, 22 actors and 230 background actors and workers.
The incident happened when Baldwin was rehearsing a scene in which he pulls the gun out of the holster. The “cold gun” — meaning it had no rounds in it — was inspected quickly and moved hands from the film’s armorer to the assistant director to Baldwin. Initial reports showed that live rounds were mixed in with a box of dummies. Film set protocol forbids mixing live rounds and dummy rounds and also requires each person who handles the gun to thoroughly inspect it.
Filming had been underway for a few weeks but had been rife with issues. According to the LA Times, just hours before the fatal shooting, the camera crew began packing up their equipment, frustrated by the long hours, long commutes and missing paychecks. Non-union members showed up that morning to replace the union employees who were ordered to leave the set if they were discontent. One camera operator complained to the production manager the week before the shooting that proper gun safety checks were not being followed. Baldwin’s stunt double accidentally fired off two live rounds after being told the gun contained blanks.
Unfortunately, this is not the first accidental gun-related death on a film set. In 1984, Jon-Erik Hexum accidentally shot himself with point-blank while trying to lighten the mood during a waiting period on-set for the series “Cover Up.” In 1993, Brandon Lee, son of Bruce Lee, was filming a scene in the movie “The Crow” when he was shot and killed by improperly made dummy rounds.
Issues with safety and adequate working conditions have been a consistent ordeal since the birth of the film industry, and recent strikes and production shutdowns have brought such issues to light. Most notably, the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees has recently gone on strike in order to gain better working conditions, including stricter COVID-19 protocols and fewer hours. The LA Times reports that “Workers won 3% annual wage hikes, improvements in pay and conditions on streaming productions and a rest period of 10 hours between daily shoots and 54 hours on weekends.”
Steve Snediker, professor of cinema at John Brown University, has spent multiple classes talking about the tragedy and emphasizing safety on filming sets. “We come back to our production entities and reenforce the rules,” he said. “This is a tragedy and this a terrible thing that has happened. This is why we need to follow the safety rules.”
As far as JBU student productions, “campus safety has a rigerous and robust protocol for student films that require the use of a facsimile gun” Snediker said. Photographs, storage, adequate signage for the filming area and transportation all have to be arranged with campus safety beforehand. Student producers also need to have safety breafings with the cast and crew each day before filming.
“It is an unfortunate incident, the loss of life in this matter, but it does provide us with a teachable and sobering moment where we say, ‘it’s fun to film a movie, there’s a lot of excitement and energy and creativity, but there’s a lot of responsibility,’” Snediker continued. “It is like driving a car and not being distracted by a text message. You are driving a deadly weapon and are responsible for staying within the lines and obeying the laws.”