Obviously, it wouldn’t withstand a real shot from a gun, but it would certainly withstand a blank.” “We’ve all seen the very famous shots in films where you get that dramatic effect of a gun being pointed at you, the audience, and of course, it’s being pointed towards the camera,” explained Steven Hall, a veteran second unit director and cinematographer who has worked on films like “Fury” and “Thor: The Dark World.” “To minimize that, one would put a remote camera in that place, or at least if someone does have to operate the camera, I’m normally protected by safety goggles, a safety visor and often a PERSPEX screen that withstands pretty much anything.
We don’t know what happened on the set of “Rust,” but it is fairly common to have a gun pointed at the camera, and by extension the cinematographer, to get a certain angle. WHY WOULD THE GUN HAVE BEEN POINTING AT THE CINEMATOGRAPHER? Weapons masters are required to abide by state and federal laws and hold proper operating permits.
Watch the prop master check the cylinders and barrel to be sure no foreign object or dummy bullet has become lodged inside.” Further, “All loading of firearms must be done by the property master, armorer or experienced persons working under their direct supervision.”Īccording to Backstage magazine, there’s no formal path but it is common to have internships and apprenticeships or a background in stunt work, the military, police or security. The Actors’ Equity Association’s guidelines state that, “Before each use, make sure the gun has been test-fired off stage and then ask to test fire it yourself. The weapons master is required to be on set whenever a weapon is being used. Recently, it’s become more common to enlist specialists. Before that, the prop master handled everything. It’s a fairly new position in the history of film production, going back only to the 1980s. This can mean anything from selecting the correct items for a certain period in history, to taking care of the weapons on set and making sure they are being used safely and properly by actors and stuntpeople. Generally, a weapons master or armorer oversees all weapons that are used on a production. WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE WEAPONS ON SET? Assistant director Dave Halls grabbed the gun from the cart and brought it inside to Baldwin, unaware that it was loaded with live rounds, a detective wrote in the search warrant application. According to the records, the gun was one of three that the film’s armorer had set on a cart outside the wooden structure where a scene was being acted. The gun was loaded with live rounds, court records released Friday show. This is harmless at longer ranges, but the explosion can seriously injure someone if it’s too close.” Film firearms-safety coordinator Dave Brown wrote in a 2019 piece for American Cinematographer that, “Blanks expel gunpowder and hot gases out of the front of the barrel in a cone shape. Still, it can serious hurt or kill someone who is close by, according to the Actors’ Equity Association. A blank is a type of gun cartridge that contains gunpowder but no bullet.