Alec Baldwin ignored 'golden rule' of gun safety by pointing pistol at cinematographer, expert says: Star tweets article that he was told gun was safe and attends memorial for woman he shot dead
- Experts say that Alec Baldwin and the Rust crew ignored several critical gun safety rules that could have avoided the tragic death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the movie set Thursday
- Zak Knight, a pyrotechnic and special effects engineer, said there's no reason a gun should pointed at another person and that live ammunition should never be on a movie set
- Baldwin tweeted a Variety article on Friday that he 'was told prop gun was safe before fatal shooting'
- Hutchins' husband shared a touching tribute to his wife following her tragic death on Thursday
- Matthew Hutchins posted sweet a photo of his wife with their 9-year-old son Andros on Twitter captioned: 'Halyna inspired us all with her passion and vision, and her legacy is too meaningful to encapsulate in words'
- Armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed and assistant director Dave Halls were named in a search warrant on Friday
- 'Cold gun!' shouted Halls, a veteran assistant director who worked on Fargo and The Matrix Reloaded
- When Baldwin pulled the trigger, a bullet was fired, killing the cinematographer and injuring the director
- In an interview, Gutierrez-Reed said she wasn't sure if she was ready to be a head armorer
- Meanwhile, troubling reports highlight safety concerns on the set of Baldwin's Western film, Rust
- Production crew on the set of Rust walked out on Thursday morning in a row over safety and long hours
- On Thursday, when they arrived to pack up, they found a team of non-union workers waiting to replace them
- Hutchins decided to stay on the set and film with Alec Baldwin and the film director Joel Souza
By ADRIANA DIAZ FOR DAILYMAIL.COM-
Alec Baldwin ignored the golden rule of gun safety by pointing the prop at someone but the gun never should have been loaded with live ammunition to begin with, experts say.
Zak Knight, a pyrotechnic and special effects engineer who is a member of Local 44, told DailyMail.com on Friday: 'There should have never been live rounds on a movie set, that's number one. Number two is every single person on a movie set has a right to inspect a weapon before it's fired. And number three is, there is no reason to ever put a person in front of a weapon that's firing.
'Anytime you see a movie where the barrel is pointed down the camera lens, there should not be an operator behind it. It's obvious that the considerations of this resulted in that gun being pointed directly at two people.
'We would have additionally had a barrier between them. A large number of people failed to do our protocols... every accident is a cascade of events,' he said.
Whatever happened in the moments leading up to her death, Knight said it was caused by a 'cascade of failures' by multiple people. 'We have a hard and fast rule that no live ammunition ever goes into a prop truck or set at any time. We just don't do it.
'If you see bullets on set they are complete dummy rounds and are in no way functional. This goes back to Brandon Lee. There's protocol.' Lee was killed in a similar incident when another actor shot him with a prop gun that was loaded with live ammunition while filming The Crow in 1993.
Alec Baldwin was wielding a vintage Colt pistol when it accidentally went off. It is not known who loaded the weapon and why it went off as a replacement crew was brought in the day of the incident (The gun pictured above is a vintage Colt pistol manufactured between 1873-92 while the exact model of the gun used is unknown, Rust is set in the 1880s)
An inconsolable Alec Baldwin is shown outside the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office after accidentally shooting and killing the cinematographer on Thursday
Knight added that different gun laws between New Mexico and California may have also contributed to the accident. In California, both a trained armorer and a prop master is required on a film set and those are the standards the union adheres to as well.
'You will find the best and most well-trained individuals in Los Angeles. You can't guarantee that as you go across the country,' he told DailyMail.com on Friday.
Knight said that he'd heard from others involved in the production that there was a walk-out. 'It's very possible that the union members said 'we're out', and they brought in people to fill the positions on the fly. There's a lot of grey area.'
In the days before the tragedy, IATSE had been threatening a large-scale strike that would have crippled Hollywood production. Among the complaints were overworking staff and poor rates. Baldwin recorded a video of himself encouraging the union members to strike if they felt they needed to, saying studio bosses 'don't give a f**k about you', that the union shared online.
EXCLUSIVE: Fatal gun in movie shooting was vintage Colt revolver
The gun that killed filmmaker Halyna Hutchins was a vintage-style Colt revolver, DailyMail.com has exclusively learned.
Alec Baldwin was handling the vintage gun on the set of Rust in Santa Fe, New Mexico, when it fired a live round – killing mom-of-one Hutchins, 42, and wounding director Joel Souza.
According to a call sheet obtained by DailyMail.com, Baldwin was taking part in a mock gunfight inside the church building on the Bonanza Ranch film set when Hutchins was hit on Thursday.
A vintage Colt Dragoon from the 1800s is seen. The fatal gun was a Colt, but the model and caliber are sill unclear
Co-stars Jensen Ackles, Swen Temmel and Travis Hammer were also in the scene – numbered 121 - alongside Baldwin’s stunt double Blake Teixeira and stunt coordinator Allan Graf.
Production notes show the Colt pistol was one of several weapons on set at the time but the only one used in 121 and the preceding 118.
Filming had been due to continue with a scene that showed Baldwin being thrown into a stagecoach but it was halted following the accident.
Further scenes featuring Baldwin and Ackles had been scheduled for Friday and over the weekend but have now been postponed indefinitely.
Reported by: Ruth Styles for DailyMail.com
'There's a direct correlation between maintaining a safe set and the hours that we work. At a certain time there's no such thing as a safe set if we're all exhausted,' Knight, a special effects artist, said.
One Santa Fe prop master told DailyMail.com that had the gun been checked properly before it was handed to Baldwin, the tragedy wouldn't have occurred.
'If they'd done their job checking the weapon this wouldn't have happened. You show the assistant director the weapon, you show the actor the weapon, you show everybody it's a safe weapon. There's a big chain of command that missed an opportunity to save a life.'
Baldwin first addressed the tragedy on Twitter Friday: 'There are no words to convey my shock and sadness regarding the tragic accident that took the life of Halyna Hutchins, a wife, mother and deeply admired colleague of ours. I'm fully cooperating with the police investigation to address how this tragedy occurred and'
'I am in touch with her husband, offering my support to him and his family. My heart is broken for her husband, their son, and all who knew and loved Halyna.'
He then tweeted a Variety article titled Alec Baldwin Was Told Prop Gun Was Safe Before Fatal Shooting, Affidavit Says.
He was pictured doubled over in grief on Thursday after speaking to the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Department immediately following the shooting.
Hutchins' husband shared a touching tribute to his wife on Twitter on Friday. Matthew Hutchins tweeted a photo of his wife and their 9-year-old son Andros on Friday captioned: 'Halyna inspired us all with her passion and vision, and her legacy is too meaningful to encapsulate in words.
'Our loss is enormous, and we ask that the media please respect my family’s privacy as we process our grief. We thank everyone for sharing images and stories of her life.'
His Facebook profile picture is a photo of the couple who had been married for 16 years. His bio now reads: 'We miss you, Halyna.'
A private memorial was held in Santa Fe last night with Matthew, Andros, and Baldwin in attendance, according to ShowBiz411. It was reported that grief counselors were present at the service.
The grieving husband told DailyMail.com on Friday morning that he had spoken with the actor. 'I have spoken with Alec Baldwin and he is being very supportive,' he said.
Halyna Hutchins' husband Matthew shared a touching tribute to his wife with a picture of her with their 9-year-old son Andros
He tweeted: 'Halyna inspired us all with her passion and vision, and her legacy is too meaningful to encapsulate in words'
Matthew attended a private memorial service for this wife with his son and Alec Baldwin, with whom he has been in contact with following his wife's tragic death
A public memorial will be held in Albuquerque Saturday from 6 - 7:30 pm. A GoFundMe page has been created by the International Cinematographers Guild Local 600 to raise funds to support her family.
The American Film Institute has established a memorial scholarship to support aspiring female cinematographers in her honor.
The 24-year-old head armorer in charge of guns on the film had admitted she wasn't sure she was ready for the job in an interview before filming started.
'I almost didn't take the job because I wasn't sure if I was ready, but doing it, it went really smoothly,' Hannah Gutierrez-Reed said in a podcast interview last month after leading the firearms department for The Old Way, starring Nicolas Cage - her first time as head armorer.
She also admitted in the podcast interview she found loading blanks into a gun 'the scariest' thing because she did not know how to do it and had sought help from her father, legendary gunsmith Thell Reed, to get over the fear.
It comes as the film crew revealed they walked off set hours before the fatal accident over safety fears after firearms were accidentally discharged three times - including once by Baldwin's stunt double who had been told the gun was not loaded, and twice in a closed cabin.
A search warrant released Friday said that Gutierrez-Reed laid out three prop guns on a cart outside the filming location, and first assistant director Dave Halls grabbed the gun from the cart and brought it inside to Baldwin, unaware that it was loaded with live rounds.
'Cold gun!' shouted Halls before handing the gun to Baldwin, using the phrase to signal to cast and crew that the gun was safe to fire for the scene, the warrant said.
Scroll down for video
Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the 24-year-old head armorer in charge of guns on Alec Baldwin film where cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was tragically shot and killed on Thursday had admitted she 'wasn't sure she was ready' for the job in an interview before filming started
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.