• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Alec Baldwin Kills Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins With Real Gun

I_D

Member
My only argument which is as true as the test of time, the last person to handle a firearm according to firearm safety 101, is responsible to handle it safely and responsibly. You never 100% rely on others prior.

You are 100% correct. It doesn't matter what the person before you tells you; you always check the firearm before handling it.
However...


If I was an actor, and I was on a set, and I was following the understanding that everything in my immediate area is designed for a movie/show, I would not assume that a firearm handed to me was even a real gun, much less an active firearm.
At the absolute most, I would assume it's a cap-gun, which makes noise, but doesn't fire any projectile.

Disclaimer: I don't know anything at all about prop-guns.

But I feel like it's not that unrealistic to assume that an actor, on set, surrounded by actors and set-designers, would assume that the gun given to him is a prop, rather than an actual gun.


Mind you, this isn't the first time such a thing has happened. It definitely seems like there is some sort of problem in the standards/legislation/practices area of movie-making.
 

DeepEnigma

Gold Member
You are 100% correct. It doesn't matter what the person before you tells you; you always check the firearm before handling it.
However...


If I was an actor, and I was on a set, and I was following the understanding that everything in my immediate area is designed for a movie/show, I would not assume that a firearm handed to me was even a real gun, much less an active firearm.
At the absolute most, I would assume it's a cap-gun, which makes noise, but doesn't fire any projectile.

Disclaimer: I don't know anything at all about prop-guns.

But I feel like it's not that unrealistic to assume that an actor, on set, surrounded by actors and set-designers, would assume that the gun given to him is a prop, rather than an actual gun.


Mind you, this isn't the first time such a thing has happened. It definitely seems like there is some sort of problem in the standards/legislation/practices area of movie-making.
You never assume. That is the point of my whole argument. And also something experts, instructors, and the like in Hollywood laid out in the article in post #202. That’s firearms safety 101.

The whole recent events and information coming out of this set sounds like a massive clusterfuck and a recipe for disaster, which sadly played out.
 
Last edited:
How about we just stop acting like we know what went down, yeah? The stuff going on in this thread is precisely the kind of stuff thay creates rumours that spread and then establish themselves as accepted facts even though they might be far removed from the trurh.

This thread is resetera af. The exact same pitchfork wielding, armchair detective style behavior that everyone is so quick to shit on resetera for. It's quite offputting.
 

Tams

Member
that’s sort of awkward. maybe he should have been versed and knowledgeable about firearms and he would have avoided this situation.

Hollywood will use this to say even prop guns should be regulated.

checking a chamber and clearing the barrel of obstructions should be obvious even when shooting blanks.
I mean they should. Most in Hollywood don't know how to use them properly.

I believe this happened because the qualified armourers left over poor conditions.
 

DragoonKain

Neighbours from Hell
You can kill someone with a blank? Can someone explain how exactly a blank works?

The only knowledge I have of blanks is that one scene from In Bruges. I didn't think you could be injured before that. I didn't think there was actually any kind of projectile that comes out I thought it just made a pop.
 

MaulerX

Member
I was wondering how he injured both the cinematographer and the director with one shot.

If indeed it was an actual live round it makes sense. They must have been standing parallel to each other. A live round from a somewhat close range means that the bullet entered then exited her body (killing her) . Then the bullet hit the director injuring him.


Wow it seems like my initial analysis was spot on:


"Instead, the gun was loaded with live rounds, and when Baldwin pulled the trigger Thursday on the set of a Western, he killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. Director Joel Souza, who was standing behind her, was wounded, the records said."
 
You can kill someone with a blank? Can someone explain how exactly a blank works?

The only knowledge I have of blanks is that one scene from In Bruges. I didn't think you could be injured before that. I didn't think there was actually any kind of projectile that comes out I thought it just made a pop.
It depends on the blank.

For a real weapon, a blank needs to almost be as powerful as the normal bullet to cycle the action. There may be a piece of plastic where the bullet would be to help create the force needed, this will be shredded into bits coming out of the barrel at bullet speed which are dangerous at short range.
Many Hollywood guns are adapted for blank firing to allow them to cycle with less powerful blanks with far less risk. For scenes where guns are very close to actors there are special guns which do not fire blanks at all but create some sparks and smoke from flash paper.

In this case it seems a real antique gun was used on set instead of one made for safe filming. And this gun may have been used for fun shooting between takes. The problem here is obvious, especially with crew being replaced.

edit: I may have got the plastic bit wrong, I remember shooting blanks in military service but these were made entirely of plastic and required the use of a plug at the end of the barrel to allow the far lighter charge to cycle the gun. Most blanks are made of metal and are not designed to expel anything down the barrel except gas which can still kill you at very short ranges and have the risk of a piece of the cartridge breaking off and flying out.
 
Last edited:

Tams

Member
You can kill someone with a blank? Can someone explain how exactly a blank works?

The only knowledge I have of blanks is that one scene from In Bruges. I didn't think you could be injured before that. I didn't think there was actually any kind of projectile that comes out I thought it just made a pop.

It doesn't appear to have been a blank.

But blanks absolutely can kill. There's still the explosive force, that are very short ranges can cause a lot of damage (usually this would be part of your body, say a bone, breaking and causing internal damage). Then there's the wadding (to keep the gunpowder in the cartridge) that can be paper, plastic, cotton, or felt. Rounds are fired at a fast enough velocity for even the paper to cause a lot of damage.

When I was in the military cadets in my country, we had to be at least 50m away from anyone we were firing blanks towards and also fire away from them (to the sides, above or sometimes below). They showed us how powerful blanks could be by shooting cardboard boxes up close. They blew big holes in them.

tl;dr never mess around with any firearm, including airsoft weapons.
 

FunkMiller

Member
This thread is resetera af. The exact same pitchfork wielding, armchair detective style behavior that everyone is so quick to shit on resetera for. It's quite offputting.

Yes. There are people on GAF just as determined to push their politics as there are on Era. Waiting for one of them to just come out and say why they actually seem to despise Alec Baldwin so much… and get this thread locked.
 
Last edited:

Bitmap Frogs

Mr. Community
So, for those of you who don't know...

A prop gun is just a gun to be used as a prop. It doesn't mean it cannot fire or it can fire, it just means it's to be used as a prop.

"Live" means that when you operate it makes a bang, mean it has a blank loaded. It does not mean it has a real ammo round.

An actual, real, round has no place on a set.
 
Last edited:

Airbus Jr

Banned
Yes. There are people on GAF just as determined to push their politics as there are on Era. Waiting for one of them to just come out and say why they actually seem to despise Alec Baldwin so much… and get this thread locked.
Alec Baldwin does parody of Trump in SNL so there goes the reason why a specific group of people here seems to hates him and uses this opportunity to attack him
 
Last edited:

Azurro

Banned
Alec Baldwin does parody of Trump in SNL so there goes the reason why a specific group of people here seems to hates him and uses this opportunity to attack him

This is a dumb hot take. I don't care about his impressions, the first one was fun even, the rest just began to be signs of TDS. However, the reason I don't like the guy because from all reports he's an arrogant and difficult guy to work with, is abusive to his daughter ("rude, thoughtless little pig" is a direct quote), was abusive to his ex wife, and I could go on, but yeah, seems to be a great person. Curiously enough, despite this, he's in the in group in Hollywood because he's a good actor that constantly parrots their narrative and acts sanctimonious about it. Funny that Mel Gibson gets sent to exile while this guy is Hollywood royalty.

So, then you hear reports of this guy handling a gun irresponsibly, in line with what we know if his personality, that also ends up killing a woman, robbing her son of her presence, and then not even 24 hours later goes to twitter to distance himself from his negligence. This is not a resetera "cancel culture" over some dumb joke that people with no sense of humor can't take, this was something negligent that took a life and the reports seem to line up with what we know of this guy. If that is a bit mean, then, whatever bro.
 
Last edited:

FunkMiller

Member
This is a dumb hot take. I don't care about his impressions, the first one was fun even, the rest just began to be signs of TDS. However, the reason I don't like the guy because from all reports he's an arrogant and difficult guy to work with, is abusive to his daughter ("rude, thoughtless little pig" is a direct quote), was abusive to his ex wife, and I could go on, but yeah, seems to be a great person. Curiously enough, despite this, he's in the in group in Hollywood because he's a good actor that constantly parrots their narrative and acts sanctimonious about it. Funny that Mel Gibson gets sent to exile while this guy is Hollywood royalty.

So, then you hear reports of this guy handling a gun irresponsibly, in line with what we know if his personality, that also ends up killing a woman, robbing her son of her presence, and then not even 24 hours later goes to twitter to distance himself from his negligence. This is not a resetera "cancel culture" over some dumb joke that people with no sense of humor can't take, this was something negligent that took a life and the reports seem to line up with what we know of this guy. If that is a bit mean, then, whatever bro.

How about waiting to hear the actual evidence, before assuming anything? Or are the media rags suddenly reliable now, because it suits your biases? Maybe Baldwin is entirely blameless. Maybe it’s all his fault.

The point is, the jumping to conclusions and condemnation of the bloke in this thread is so reminiscent of ResetEra type wank screeching, it’s vomit inducing.

And it’s only happening because Baldwin is an equally vomit inducing leftie who did an impression of orange man.

It‘s deeply fucking sad that people on GAF who moan about Era posters lambasting people before clear evidence is presented, are more than happy to pull the same shit when it’s somebody they don’t like.
 
Last edited:

RJMacready73

Simps for Amouranth
Wouldn't be a big stretch of imagination to think a certain person who follows a certain cult of personality handing a live firearm to a person who takes the piss out of said cult leader in the hopes of ruining his career or out of pity revenge...
 

Lanrutcon

Member
This is a dumb hot take. I don't care about his impressions, the first one was fun even, the rest just began to be signs of TDS. However, the reason I don't like the guy because from all reports he's an arrogant and difficult guy to work with, is abusive to his daughter ("rude, thoughtless little pig" is a direct quote), was abusive to his ex wife, and I could go on, but yeah, seems to be a great person.

Ah, speaking of dumb hot takes...let's talk about yours.

A veteran Hollywood actor being hard to work with? Gasp. Call CNN. It's the fucking apocalypse.

That quote is hilarious. That's what constitutes "abusive" these days? If your child is a little shit you're allowed to call them that. Also: you fail the mention the part where he drastically altered his life in order to stay in said child's life after him and his wife separated. He also has 6 more kids.

Couldn't find a damn thing about ex-wife abuse, even on a 25 point strong list of controversial shit he's done.

Dude's lived a long life as a celebrity, and is also human. If calling his daughter a little pig is the worst thing you can dig up after 63 years then I'm probably a worst human being than he is.
 

Wildebeest

Member
So, then you hear reports of this guy handling a gun irresponsibly, in line with what we know if his personality, that also ends up killing a woman, robbing her son of her presence, and then not even 24 hours later goes to twitter to distance himself from his negligence. This is not a resetera "cancel culture" over some dumb joke that people with no sense of humor can't take, this was something negligent that took a life and the reports seem to line up with what we know of this guy. If that is a bit mean, then, whatever bro.
The so-called "reports" of him handling the gun irresponsibly could all be totally made up. It is perfectly valid to assume he was just acting out the scene exactly as directed and had no reason to believe there was anything other than a dummy round in the chamber. In a way it is irresponsible to repeat unverified rumours and gossip while a family is grieving.
 

The Cockatrice

I'm retarded?
This is a dumb hot take. I don't care about his impressions, the first one was fun even, the rest just began to be signs of TDS. However, the reason I don't like the guy because from all reports he's an arrogant and difficult guy to work with, is abusive to his daughter ("rude, thoughtless little pig" is a direct quote), was abusive to his ex wife, and I could go on, but yeah, seems to be a great person. Curiously enough, despite this, he's in the in group in Hollywood because he's a good actor that constantly parrots their narrative and acts sanctimonious about it. Funny that Mel Gibson gets sent to exile while this guy is Hollywood royalty.

So, then you hear reports of this guy handling a gun irresponsibly, in line with what we know if his personality, that also ends up killing a woman, robbing her son of her presence, and then not even 24 hours later goes to twitter to distance himself from his negligence. This is not a resetera "cancel culture" over some dumb joke that people with no sense of humor can't take, this was something negligent that took a life and the reports seem to line up with what we know of this guy. If that is a bit mean, then, whatever bro.

Wow was not aware you know Alec personally. Are you a friend of his that this information about him is accurate? Oh, no..? Shut the fuck up and go back to resetera.
 
Last edited:

kuncol02

Banned
Wouldn't be a big stretch of imagination to think a certain person who follows a certain cult of personality handing a live firearm to a person who takes the piss out of said cult leader in the hopes of ruining his career or out of pity revenge...
Yes. It would Get professional help.
 

Airbus Jr

Banned
This is a dumb hot take. I don't care about his impressions, the first one was fun even, the rest just began to be signs of TDS. However, the reason I don't like the guy because from all reports he's an arrogant and difficult guy to work with, is abusive to his daughter ("rude, thoughtless little pig" is a direct quote), was abusive to his ex wife, and I could go on, but yeah, seems to be a great person. Curiously enough, despite this, he's in the in group in Hollywood because he's a good actor that constantly parrots their narrative and acts sanctimonious about it. Funny that Mel Gibson gets sent to exile while this guy is Hollywood royalty.

So, then you hear reports of this guy handling a gun irresponsibly, in line with what we know if his personality, that also ends up killing a woman, robbing her son of her presence, and then not even 24 hours later goes to twitter to distance himself from his negligence. This is not a resetera "cancel culture" over some dumb joke that people with no sense of humor can't take, this was something negligent that took a life and the reports seem to line up with what we know of this guy. If that is a bit mean, then, whatever bro.
This is about an acident involving an actor acidentally shot someone because he didnt know the guns were real

Lets not get carried away and attack his personal life
 

Jaysen

Banned
This is a dumb hot take. I don't care about his impressions, the first one was fun even, the rest just began to be signs of TDS. However, the reason I don't like the guy because from all reports he's an arrogant and difficult guy to work with, is abusive to his daughter ("rude, thoughtless little pig" is a direct quote), was abusive to his ex wife, and I could go on, but yeah, seems to be a great person. Curiously enough, despite this, he's in the in group in Hollywood because he's a good actor that constantly parrots their narrative and acts sanctimonious about it. Funny that Mel Gibson gets sent to exile while this guy is Hollywood royalty.

So, then you hear reports of this guy handling a gun irresponsibly, in line with what we know if his personality, that also ends up killing a woman, robbing her son of her presence, and then not even 24 hours later goes to twitter to distance himself from his negligence. This is not a resetera "cancel culture" over some dumb joke that people with no sense of humor can't take, this was something negligent that took a life and the reports seem to line up with what we know of this guy. If that is a bit mean, then, whatever bro.
Reports? You mean from dipshits on social media who know nothing about what actually happened? People who do know what happened claim the opposite. Alec was handed a gun that he was told was cold. The entire crew was informed it was cold. How do you irresponsibly handle a cold weapon? Should the crew never trust the people whose sole job it is to manage the state of all weapons on set?

From The LA Times, not an idiot on Twitter:

“Late Friday, the Associated Press reported that Baldwin was handed a loaded weapon by an assistant director who indicated it was safe to use in the moments before the actor fired it, according to court records. The assistant director did not know the prop gun was loaded with live rounds, according to a search warrant filed in a Santa Fe County court.

The person in charge of overseeing the gun props, known as the armorer, Hannah Gutierrez Reed, could not be reached for comment. The 24-year-old is the daughter of veteran armorer Thell Reed and had recently completed her first film as the head armorer for the movie “The Old Way,” with Clint Howard and Nicolas Cage.”
 

Azurro

Banned
Reports? You mean from dipshits on social media who know nothing about what actually happened? People who do know what happened claim the opposite. Alec was handed a gun that he was told was cold. The entire crew was informed it was cold. How do you irresponsibly handle a cold weapon? Should the crew never trust the people whose sole job it is to manage the state of all weapons on set?

From The LA Times, not an idiot on Twitter:

“Late Friday, the Associated Press reported that Baldwin was handed a loaded weapon by an assistant director who indicated it was safe to use in the moments before the actor fired it, according to court records. The assistant director did not know the prop gun was loaded with live rounds, according to a search warrant filed in a Santa Fe County court.

The person in charge of overseeing the gun props, known as the armorer, Hannah Gutierrez Reed, could not be reached for comment. The 24-year-old is the daughter of veteran armorer Thell Reed and had recently completed her first film as the head armorer for the movie “The Old Way,” with Clint Howard and Nicolas Cage.”

Why was the gun aimed at the director of photography?
 
Reports? You mean from dipshits on social media who know nothing about what actually happened? People who do know what happened claim the opposite. Alec was handed a gun that he was told was cold. The entire crew was informed it was cold. How do you irresponsibly handle a cold weapon? Should the crew never trust the people whose sole job it is to manage the state of all weapons on set?

From The LA Times, not an idiot on Twitter:

“Late Friday, the Associated Press reported that Baldwin was handed a loaded weapon by an assistant director who indicated it was safe to use in the moments before the actor fired it, according to court records. The assistant director did not know the prop gun was loaded with live rounds, according to a search warrant filed in a Santa Fe County court.

The person in charge of overseeing the gun props, known as the armorer, Hannah Gutierrez Reed, could not be reached for comment. The 24-year-old is the daughter of veteran armorer Thell Reed and had recently completed her first film as the head armorer for the movie “The Old Way,” with Clint Howard and Nicolas Cage.”
All guns are to be treated as loaded and dangerous at all times. Period. This is gun safety 101. There is no circumstance where it was responsible to point a gun at a person and fire it. You can’t even argue that pointing it at her was required for filming because she wasn’t on screen.
 

FunkMiller

Member
All guns are to be treated as loaded and dangerous at all times. Period. This is gun safety 101. There is no circumstance where it was responsible to point a gun at a person and fire it. You can’t even argue that pointing it at her was required for filming because she wasn’t on screen.

What if it was for a scene, and the gun was being fired towards the camera?
 
Last edited:

Jaysen

Banned
Why was the gun aimed at the director of photography?
They were setting up the next shot. No pun intended.

”The actor was preparing to film a scene in which he pulls a gun out of a holster, according to a source close to the production. Crew members had already shouted “cold gun” on the set. The filmmaking team was lining up its camera angles and had yet to retreat to the video village, an on-set area where the crew gathers to watch filming from a distance via a monitor.

Instead, the B-camera operator was on a dolly with a monitor, checking out the potential shots. Hutchins was also looking at the monitor from over the operator’s shoulder, as was the movie’s director, Joel Souza, who was crouching just behind her.

Baldwin removed the gun from its holster once without incident, but the second time he did so, ammunition flew toward the trio around the monitor. The projectile whizzed by the camera operator but penetrated Hutchins near her shoulder, then continued through to Souza. Hutchins immediately fell to the ground as crew members applied pressure to her wound in an attempt to stop the bleeding.”
 
Last edited:
D

Deleted member 1159

Unconfirmed Member
“ammunition flew toward the trio” is some real passive shit lmao

So maybe he didn’t even intend to pull the trigger when he was unholstering? Poor trigger discipline + not paying attention to where he was aiming?
 

Jaysen

Banned
“ammunition flew toward the trio” is some real passive shit lmao

So maybe he didn’t even intend to pull the trigger when he was unholstering? Poor trigger discipline + not paying attention to where he was aiming?
Sounds like he was aiming exactly where they wanted him to. They all just assumed it was a cold weapon because that’s what they were told it was. The plan was to set up the shot with the cold weapon, the director and crew then move to another location off set, a gun with a live round is given to the actor, and he shoots once again in the direction they practiced towards the camera.
 
Last edited:

thefool

Member
What an unfortunate situation.
Knowing nothing about guns or safety protocols on movie sets, I would lean to put the responsability on the props/armorer/gun checker (whatever its called).
 

highrider

Banned
On the one hand I feel terrible for Alec Baldwin and the victims. On the other hand Alec Baldwin is a smarmy, anti-gun guy that’s attacks people for feeling differently, so fuck dude. Sorry for your incompetence I guess.
 
Everyone in all situations around firearms should never assume them to be empty, no exceptions. If you don't feel comfortable to confirm a firearm is unloaded in a safe manner, please don't handle firearms.
 

RJMacready73

Simps for Amouranth
U hi

That’s a huge fucking stretch.
youtube fashion GIF


Is it?
 
Last edited:

Teslerum

Member
Everyone in all situations around firearms should never assume them to be empty, no exceptions. If you don't feel comfortable to confirm a firearm is unloaded in a safe manner, please don't handle firearms.
This

Even if its your best friend handing you the gun in the most secure location with your full knowledge that the gun has been checked multiple times. STILL check it. You can't be paranoid enough on that front.

And I mean that as a PSA, completely separate from this incident. Please, just do it.
 
Last edited:

RJMacready73

Simps for Amouranth
This

Even if its your best friend handing you the gun in the most secure location with your full knowledge that the gun has been checked multiple times. STILL check it. You can't be paranoid enough on that front.

And I mean that as a PSA, completely separate from this incident. Please, just do it.
It's so fucking alien to us outside of the US that if I where to find myself in a situation with a firearm around me now, I'd just bail, when I was younger it didnt bother me so much the v rare times it happened.. then again the fuck am I gonna do when a Provo is pistol whippin a dealer in front of me
 

jason10mm

Gold Member
Huh, well it looks like Alec stays out of jail. But if he was just self rehearsing a draw scene and pulling the trigger that itself is probably a violation of set safety rules.

I'd say his culpability may lie more as co-producer now, especially if the previous on set shenanigans are true. He was probably the most experienced person involved in the entire production and he had the power to stop things if they were unsafe.

But damn, that young armorer woman has got to feel TERRIBLE. I'm very curious how this all happened. Westerns always seemed to me to be the simplest of films to make since they have such a long track record and there are a bazillion low budget ones out there.
 
Huh, well it looks like Alec stays out of jail. But if he was just self rehearsing a draw scene and pulling the trigger that itself is probably a violation of set safety rules.

I'd say his culpability may lie more as co-producer now, especially if the previous on set shenanigans are true. He was probably the most experienced person involved in the entire production and he had the power to stop things if they were unsafe.

But damn, that young armorer woman has got to feel TERRIBLE. I'm very curious how this all happened. Westerns always seemed to me to be the simplest of films to make since they have such a long track record and there are a bazillion low budget ones out there.
It’s crazy to me that live ammunition would even be on the set.
 

Xenon

Member
Yes. There are people on GAF just as determined to push their politics as there are on Era. Waiting for one of them to just come out and say why they actually seem to despise Alec Baldwin so much… and get this thread locked.

Please give this a rest. Having a political opinion and even having a majority of people sharing it does not make something Era-esque. That requires heavy moderation of opposing opinions and the insidious self censoring that follows from it.

After hearing more it does sound like Alec holds some or a big part of the responsibility for a person's death. Whether it was a top down decision to save money on key safety role or failure to do safety check on the gun himself. I Also think that the investigation should explore all avenues.

While I can feel some sympathy for what the man is going through, he is not anything close to being a victim of these events in any way.
 

jason10mm

Gold Member
It’s crazy to me that live ammunition would even be on the set.
NO kidding. I'm sure there will be more to the story.

I'm very curious what was SUPPOSED to happen. A click? Just a blank fire? Did Alec squeeze off a live round on what was supposed to be a blank round by accident? How close were the victims and did they know he was going to pull the trigger on a cold gun when he did? Lots of questions still to be answered.
 
The so-called "reports" of him handling the gun irresponsibly could all be totally made up. It is perfectly valid to assume he was just acting out the scene exactly as directed and had no reason to believe there was anything other than a dummy round in the chamber. In a way it is irresponsible to repeat unverified rumours and gossip while a family is grieving.
It is not inconceivable that the scene called for Baldwin to fire the gun towards the camera, thus hitting the cinematographer. Lots of movies have shots of actors firing directly at the camera, to get the point of view of the person being shot.
 
Top Bottom