Actor Alec Baldwin accidentally killed someone on the set of the movie “Rust” with a blank loaded gun. We explain to you how such a drama, a priori difficult to imagine, can occur.
A terrible drama occurred this Thursday on the set of the western Rust: American actor Alec Baldwin killed accidentally the cinematographer of the film with a blank loaded gun. How can such an incident occur with a pistol devoid of live ammunition? We explain to you.
It is first necessary to indicate, as the TheWrap site notes, that the weapons used on filming are often real weapons, even though the term “prop gun” is commonly used.
Why use real guns on a set? Quite simply for the sake of plausibility. In 2019, firearms specialist Dave Brown thus indicated that real weapons added authenticity, especially on close-ups.
If during filming, the weapons are therefore often real, they are obviously not loaded with real bullets, but blank, that is to say with ammunition without projectile, in other words a blank cartridge. In the context of blank use, this empty cartridge, in which a case (most often plastic) containing powder is placed, is introduced into the barrel of a firearm.
Blank loaded weapons therefore contain plastic and powder, but no projectile. So how can we come to a dramatic outcome?
Quite simply because even blank, a shot, if it is carried out at short distance, can be fatal, with the combined effect, when the trigger is pressed, of a violent noise, of a recoil movement, a flash of light and the expulsion of the solid material used to seal the point of the weapon to hold the gunpowder. In short, bullet or no bullet, anyone near the end of the barrel is potentially in danger.
As The Wrap recalls, the very first safety bulletin adopted by The Industrywide Labor-Management Safety Committee strongly warned of the dangers of blank ammunition, stating that they “can kill” and that it was imperative to “treat all firearms as if they are loaded.”
We will note the reminder of the Deadline site which indicates that it is traditionally the first assistant director who is in charge of safety on a set, in coordination with the head props.
“According to the protocol, a gunsmith takes care of handling all the weapons on the board which are loaded with blank”, indicates a source of our American correspondent Emmanuel Itier. “The first assistant director makes an announcement about it – he checks the weapons and shows the whole technical team and all the actors that they are empty and inactive – or, if necessary, that they are loaded to white. Once the first assistant and the gunsmith have checked the weapons, they are handed over to the actors before they are taken. “
“On films with a lower budget, props will sometimes manipulate weapons”, he continues. “If they are not blank loaded and they are empty, this same protocol is used interchangeably. If blank bullets are to be fired, no one is supposed to be right in front of the gun, not even the cameraman. “
