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Alec Baldwin

I could be wrong, but how I read it was that the previous (blank) round did not eject correctly and was in the actual barrel (I stress its how I read it).
When next blank was fired, said empty cartridge essentially became a bullett.
Absolutely tragic.
 
I could be wrong, but how I read it was that the previous (blank) round did not eject correctly and was in the actual barrel (I stress its how I read it).
When next blank was fired, said empty cartridge essentially became a bullett.
Absolutely tragic.

This theory would only be viable if the gun was a semi-automatic surely? And if it was a western they were presumably using revolvers. Also, would an empty cartridge actually fit into the barrel? Perhaps if it was partly crushed, or something? Whatever it was seems to have had the force to go through two people, and would a blank have such a massive charge of powder?
Maybe before the scene was shot someone was shooting at tin cans and by a chain of errors and negligence a "real" round remained in the gun? There is certainly something morbid about this curiosity, but I admit to wondering what actually happened. I bet the insurers of the film are not sleeping well.
 
Blanks are notoriously dangerous things, as we had drummed into us, and demonstrated, at CCF.

There are no shortcuts to firearms drill when you are handling live weapons, or even dummy ones. This is, or should be, de rigeur on filmsets and reenactment, as it certainly was in films made here such as Saving Private Ryan and Band of Brothers. This seems like a bizarre, awful tragedy. What an awful thing to happen. I certainly feel for Baldwin, poor man.
 
I have not read that two rounds were fired - so perhaps through/through.
However it happened, for sure it will be found.
Still an absolute tragedy.
I think this may see an end to even blanks being used - CGI will take its place.
 
It's beyond belief especially when you consider that the effects of the gun can be achieved with CGI. Clearly safety protocols were not being followed; a tragedy that should never have happened and my heart goes out to all concerned.
 
All the references to CGI being made, yes it can achieve amazing results, but good CGI is not cheap, contrary to popular belief. In a western where there are potentially thousands of rounds being discharged, it’s far cheaper to use blanks.

Baldwin isn’t the box office draw he used to be, I doubt this movie had anything more than a basic CGI budget.
 
All the references to CGI being made, yes it can achieve amazing results, but good CGI is not cheap, contrary to popular belief. In a western where there are potentially thousands of rounds being discharged, it’s far cheaper to use blanks.

Baldwin isn’t the box office draw he used to be, I doubt this movie had anything more than a basic CGI budget.

Yes, that's a fair comment, but I guess things will change now. As you say, when you consider the many thousands of rounds fired compared to how many accidents have occurred.
 
You never, ever point a gun at anyone unless you intend to kill them.
Hollywood has lots of tricks up its sleeve with camera angles etc, so it seems that Alec Baldwin messed up.

Hopefully the film makers will use cgi from now on.
I don’t know why they aren’t doing already, if you want a real flash from a gun, that could be done with a specially designed prop, ie something that lacks a barrel that can fire a projectile. You could use gas and a spark to create the flash… Colin furze has achieved that in his garage ffs.

As for capturing the real sound, you wouldn’t do that on set, you’d capture the sound under controlled conditions and dub it in in post production.

As said above, this is just incomprehensible, especially given the fact that it’s not the first time such an incident has occurred.
 
The John Wick films mostly use CGI. Much of Extraction was filmed in India where even BB guns and replicas are banned. So they used rubber prop guns and CGI for the nozzle flashes.

There’s absolutely no need for blanks to be fired in films these days.
 
Reads like a plot from Midsomer Murders. What an f’d up way to die. Hope they figure out what happened.
 
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It's beyond belief especially when you consider that the effects of the gun can be achieved with CGI. Clearly safety protocols were not being followed; a tragedy that should never have happened and my heart goes out to all concerned.
The actors reaction and the recoil, which is what the close up was meant to capture, are hard to do with CGI

I don't see why 50% of the news slot has to be what is hopefully an unfortunate accident
 
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From the BBC:

“The gun that actor Alec Baldwin fired on set, killing a woman, was handed to him by an assistant director who told him it was safe, court records show.
The unnamed director did not know the prop contained live ammunition and indicated it was unloaded by shouting "cold gun!", the records say.“

Whenever you are handed a weapon, YOU ensure it is safe. Not your mum, not your dad, not your director. You.
 
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From the BBC:

“he gun that actor Alec Baldwin fired on set, killing a woman, was handed to him by an assistant director who told him it was safe, court records show.
The unnamed director did not know the prop contained live ammunition and indicated it was unloaded by shouting "cold gun!", the records say.“

Whenever you are handed a weapon, YOU ensure it is safe. Not your mum, not your dad, not your director. You.
Tony, this is the movies not the military. I assume there would never be reason for a live round to be in a 'prop' gun on set so Baldwin would be more likely to see a flag pop out of the barrel with 'BANG' written on it.
If I remember correctly you are ex mil like myself and the idea of making a weapon handed to you safe, 'full unload followed by partial load', is ingrained in our souls! Not in the movies however, and especially not by the actor I'd imagine.
 
Tony, this is the movies not the military. I assume there would never be reason for a live round to be in a 'prop' gun on set so Baldwin would be more likely to see a flag pop out of the barrel with 'BANG' written on it.
If I remember correctly you are ex mil like myself and the idea of making a weapon handed to you safe, 'full unload followed by partial load', is ingrained in our souls! Not in the movies however, and especially not by the actor I'd imagine.
At the very least you’d expect to be shown it’s empty. It’s not just the military, civilian shooting clubs have these rules too.
 
At the very least you’d expect to be shown it’s empty. It’s not just the military, civilian shooting clubs have these rules too.

Yes, I remember from a rifle club in the mid-60s that the rule was to always leave the breech open when not actually firing. But on a film set, I doubt Baldwin would be expected to take the gun, unload it, check that every round was indeed a blank, and then re-load it. He, in fact anyone, would assume there were no "real" bullets anywhere in the vicinity. My bet is that someone had been using the gun with live ammunition for shooting at targets while not working and that somehow whoever re-loaded the revolver (?) with blanks missed the fact that one of the cartridges was a live one that was already there. With people doing things while talking on cellphones, which is about 75% of the time these days, this could easily happen. I don't believe "wadding" could go through two people.
 


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