Shooting Death Leads to Calls to Ban Real Guns on Film Sets

 

With computer-created imagery, Hollywood filmmakers can produce just about anything: detailed¹ universes, trips to outer space, travels to the future or the distant past.

Yet, many movie productions still use real guns during filming. And even with strong rules and requirements about the use of such weaponry, people can get killed.

That is what happened last week in the state of New Mexico. The famous actor Alec Baldwin used a prop² gun on the set of the movie, Rust³. According to court documents, an assistant director had announced on set that the gun was "cold," meaning it had no ammunition⁴ and was safe to use. But, he was wrong.

Baldwin shot the gun, killing⁵ cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and wounding the film's director, Joel Souza.

Souza was treated at a hospital and is recovering.

The term "prop gun" can be used for anything from a rubber toy to a real firearm that can fire live ammunition, like a bullet.

Movie making sometimes involves ammunition called blanks, which have everything needed to fire the gun but does not include a bullet, or other dangerous projectiles⁶.

Still, even blanks can hurt or kill someone who is close by, says the Actors' Equity⁷ Association, a labor⁸ group.

The tragedy has led people in Hollywood and the general public to ask: Why are real guns ever used on set, when computers can create gunshots after filming?

Alexi Hawley is the producer of a police television show called The Rookie. Following Hutchins' death, he wrote to his employees that there "will be no more ‘live' weapons on the show." Hawley's note was first reported by The Hollywood Reporter and confirmed by The Associated Press.

Craig Zobel is director of the popular series Mare⁹ of Easttown. He called for the whole industry to follow Hawley's lead. He said gunshot effects on his show are added after filming.

"There's no reason to have guns loaded with blanks or anything on set anymore," Zobel wrote on Twitter. "Should just be fully¹⁰ outlawed¹¹. There's computers now," he wrote.

Bill Dill is a cinematographer who taught Halyna Hutchins at the American Film Institute. The 42-year-old Hutchins was considered a rising star in her field.

He expressed anger over the continued tradition of using real guns loaded with blanks. Dill said there was added danger from real guns because "people are working long hours" on films and are usually very tired.

"There's no excuse for using live weapons," he added.

A petition¹² was launched over the weekend on change.org for real guns to be banned from production sets. "There is no excuse for something like this to happen in the 21st century," the petition said of the tragedy.

The petition appealed to Alec Baldwin directly "to use his power and influence" in the industry and support "Halyna's Law." The law would ban the use of real firearms on set.

Many in the moviemaking industry are calling to ban blanks and only use representations¹³ of guns or real guns that cannot be fired.

Liz Garbus is a movie director. She wrote on Twitter, "Really, there is no good reason in this day to have blanks on set." She added that computer-generated imagery, or CGI, "can make the gun seem ‘real.'"

Using CGI instead of using a real weapon creates additional costs for directors and others in the film industry. Garbus said if a project does not have the money for CGI, it should cut gunfire action from the production.

Broadway actor and writer Harvey Fierstein says the tragedy makes him question why Hollywood is not depending more on special effects.

"Why, with all of the Hollywood magic available, are they still firing off gun powder?" he wrote on Facebook. "Why chance an accident in the first place?"

But he also said Hutchins' death raised even bigger questions.

"With all of that Hollywood talent and imagination [why] are we still writing stories about shooting one another?" he asked. "Do we really have nothing better to spend millions of dollars on than the glamorization of gun battles?"

Words in This Story

prop – n. an object that is used by a performer or actor or that is used to create a desired effect in a scene on a stage, in a movie, etc.

cinematographer – n. a specialist in the art, process, or job of filming movies

petition – n. a written document that people sign to show that they want a person or organization to do or change something

generate¹⁴ – v. to produce (something) or cause (something) to be produced

talent – n. a person or group of people with a special ability to do something well

glamorization – n. the act of making something seem exciting and appealing

1 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。

2 prop   

vt.支撑；n.支柱，支撑物；支持者，靠山

参考例句：

• A worker put a prop against the wall of the tunnel to keep it from falling.一名工人用东西支撑住隧道壁好使它不会倒塌。
• The government does not intend to prop up declining industries.政府无意扶持不景气的企业。

3 rust   

n.锈；v.生锈；(脑子)衰退

参考例句：

• She scraped the rust off the kitchen knife.她擦掉了菜刀上的锈。
• The rain will rust the iron roof.雨水会使铁皮屋顶生锈。

4 ammunition   

n.军火，弹药

参考例句：

• A few of the jeeps had run out of ammunition.几辆吉普车上的弹药已经用光了。
• They have expended all their ammunition.他们把弹药用光。

5 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

6 projectiles   

n.抛射体( projectile的名词复数 )；（炮弹、子弹等）射弹，（火箭等）自动推进的武器

参考例句：

• These differences are connected with the strong absorption of the composite projectiles. 这些差别与复杂的入射粒子的强烈吸收有关。 来自辞典例句
• Projectiles became more important because cannons could now fire balls over hundreds or yards. 抛射体变得更加重要，因为人们已能用大炮把炮弹射到几百码的距离之外。 来自辞典例句

7 equity   

n.公正，公平，（无固定利息的）股票

参考例句：

• They shared the work of the house with equity.他们公平地分担家务。
• To capture his equity,Murphy must either sell or refinance.要获得资产净值，墨菲必须出售或者重新融资。

8 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

9 mare   

n.母马，母驴

参考例句：

• The mare has just thrown a foal in the stable.那匹母马刚刚在马厩里产下了一只小马驹。
• The mare foundered under the heavy load and collapsed in the road.那母马因负载过重而倒在路上。

10 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

11 outlawed   

宣布…为不合法（outlaw的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• Most states have outlawed the use of marijuana. 大多数州都宣布使用大麻为非法行为。
• I hope the sale of tobacco will be outlawed someday. 我希望有朝一日烟草制品会禁止销售。

12 petition   

n.请愿书，申请书，诉状；v.请愿，正式请求

参考例句：

• Thousands of citizens subscribed the petition.几千名公民在请愿书上签名。
• The number of signers of the petition for a new school snowballed.要求增设新学校而签名的人像滚雪球似的越来越多。

13 representations   

n.陈述，投诉，抗议；表现( representation的名词复数 )；陈述；表现…的事物；有代理人

参考例句：

• Naturally, we tend to use old representations in our new environments. 同样很自然的，在新的环境里，我们习惯于采用旧的表达方式。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
• They made representations to the college cook about the bad food. 他们向学校厨师抗议伙食太差。 来自辞典例句

14 generate   

vt.生成，产生（光、热、电等）导致

参考例句：

• We need someone to generate new ideas.我们需要有人出新主意。
• This book will continue to generate excitement for a long time.这本书将在很长一段时间里继续使人们为之激动。