The explanation I heard (grain of salt), is that they were testing the setup for a shot where Baldwin fires the mean old gun while the camera is looking down the barrel; the person who was shot was looking either through the lens or very near the camera to see how the shot would look.
It was apparently very realistic.
That’s awful.
There really is no excuse for this when you think about it.
Why does Baldwin actually have to be the one to fire the gun?
the whole thing doesn’t add up, and there is no media out there to tell us what happened.
Cinéma vérité - yeah, that’s the ticket!
How can an actor actually get into the spirit of the role unless the whole EXPERIENCE is first played out?
That’s actually pretty standard, yes: Think of the beginning of any James Bond movie you’ve ever seen. He aims directly at the camera and fires. Blood pours down. As I commented above, Baldwin was their perfect stooge.