Airsoft Replicas. Most pistols come with "blowback". Basically the slide makes the same motion as the real deal which makes it give a little kick, even with no ammo. Not sure about the revolvers.
Posted on 10/27/2021 5:46:32 PM PDT by DoodleBob
While acting on four seasons of FX’s “American Horror Story,” Leslie Grossman estimates she’s been called upon to shoot a gun “several times.”
“They’re never real guns,” she says. “Nine times out of 10, I’m using a rubber gun.” When the scene does call for a more dramatic close-up of a gun firing with a physical recoil, Grossman says she usually shoots an air gun instead, with effects added in post-production to enhance authenticity. On the most recent season, “American Horror Story: Double Feature,” Grossman recalls only using rubber guns, even while shooting them.
“I even said, ‘Wait, is this gonna look super fake?’ And they’re like, ‘Oh, we can fix anything later to make it look super real.’ And they did, and it looked really real,” she said.
The deadly shooting on the set of the independent film “Rust” that killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and wounded director Joel Souza involved a real firearm fired by actor Alec Baldwin that contained live rounds rather thank blanks. In the tragedy’s aftermath, the industry is facing the question of whether real firearms should ever again be allowed on a set.
In response to the “Rust” tragedy, ABC’s cop drama “The Rookie” banned real firearms. Eric Kripke, showrunner of Amazon’s gritty superhero series “The Boys,” tweeted that he was taking “a simple, easy pledge: no more guns with blanks on any of my sets ever.”
A Change.org petition to ban real guns from movie and TV productions has nearly 70,000 signatures. California state senator Dave Cortese says he plans to introduce legislation to officially ban real firearms and live ammunition from all productions, and New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said her state would take similar action should the entertainment industry not adopt such a ban voluntarily.
Bandar Albuliwi, a filmmaker and author of the Change.org petition, is incredulous that the practice of using real firearms carries on, citing deaths of actor Brandon Lee on the set of the 1993 film “The Crow” and camerawoman Sarah Jones on the 2014 production of “Midnight Rider” (unrelated to firearms) as prior examples that should have made set safety a top priority across the industry.
“This shouldn’t have happened after Brandon Lee basically shot himself,” said Albuliwi. “Hollywood hasn’t changed in 30 years. We again thought we’d learned our lesson about better protocols with ‘Midnight Rider.’ That caused a little stir but dissipated. This speaks volumes about our industry because, in this event, this only got attention because it involved an A-list actor like Alec Baldwin.”
Cameron Kasky, a survivor of the 2018 Parkland mass shooting and gun control activist, agrees with Albuliwi. “All real guns should be banned from sets,” he says. “Fake guns look very real. If studios have even the slightest regard for workers, real guns would be completely out of the question.”
For decades, real firearms with blank ammunition have been used in film and TV productions because they visually recreate actual gunfire. But in discussions with industry insiders and visual effects experts, all of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity, many said that advances in visual effects technology mean banning real weapons would result in virtually no sacrifice to the look and feel of a finished piece of content.
“If in the background, there’s a dinosaur running around, you know, that’s where the money is,” said one longtime VFX artist. “A couple of ‘bang bang, smoky smoky’ things is a sneeze compared to almost anything else.”
Often times, there is minimal lifting required in post-production to make a fake gun look as if it has been discharged, experts said. A “muzzle flash,” or the appearance of smoke and light from the barrel of a gun, is easily created with software used by editors and digital intermediate houses.
“Doing just a muzzle flash, it’s nothing,” says the effects artist. “It’s minutes of work per shot — maybe a tiny glow, maybe a tiny bit of interactive light.”
More elaborate sequences involving gunfire, especially those that involve an actor flinching in reaction to an overpowering weapon, could necessitate more intensive visual effects work.
“It’s essentially performance modification, and that’s what would move it to the next level,” says the artist.
But even in these cases, this artist notes these are actions an actor “can absolutely mimic” in their performance.
Taking real firearms off a set would also remove potential lethal hazards caused by the kind of negligence that’s been alleged to have occurred on “Rust” — from union crews walking and the hiring of scabs, to improper protocols handling weaponry. Veterans in the production coordination space, basically those in charge of “Hollywood’s back office” as one put it, said that standard safety protocols often go overlooked, particularly on productions outside entertainment’s backyard in Los Angeles.
“West Coast unions require safety classes through CSATF,” said one top production coordinator, referring to the digital portal Contract Services, which provides training and other functions for film and TV shoots.
Through Contract Services, employees take state-mandated courses like sexual harassment education and, of course, safety training. These union-mandated program also issues daily safety bulletins with the production call sheet, briefing the entire production on the stunts and other hazards of the day.
“We’re supposed to check the status of each and every union crew member before they are hired,” says the coordinator. “This isn’t nationwide and people don’t often use it.”
These issues speak to a larger, more pernicious attitude involving on-set safety and wellbeing — and a culture of silence that has kept people from speaking up.
“There can be a vibe of, like, ‘Well, I’m assuming they know what they’re doing,'” says Grossman, who notes this isn’t the case on “American Horror Story,” where the safety team operates under strict guidelines even when she’s firing a prop gun. “But I’ve had other jobs where I feel like, if I speak up, I feel like they’re gonna think I’m a pain in the ass or roll their eyes at me because I’m an actor. On sets, there’s this general idea that ‘somebody’ — and I’m using quotes when I say ‘somebody’ — is in charge, and many times, nobody’s in charge.”
For Grossman, in that kind of chaotic environment, it makes no sense to have deadly weapons available of any kind, period.
“There is no reason for one second to put anyone in jeopardy to make a pretend story,” she says. “That’s ridiculous.”
These issues speak to a larger, more pernicious attitude involving on-set safety and wellbeing — and a culture of silence that has kept people from speaking up.
“There can be a vibe of, like, ‘Well, I’m assuming they know what they’re doing,'” says Grossman, who notes this isn’t the case on “American Horror Story,” where the safety team operates under strict guidelines even when she’s firing a prop gun. “But I’ve had other jobs where I feel like, if I speak up, I feel like they’re gonna think I’m a pain in the ass or roll their eyes at me because I’m an actor. On sets, there’s this general idea that ‘somebody’ — and I’m using quotes when I say ‘somebody’ — is in charge, and many times, nobody’s in charge.”
Real guns do SO belong on a movie screen.
Real BULLETS on the other hand…
The first gun accident I recall on a set was the Hexum death I the 80s. I wonder how often it has happened before that? The sheer number of guns fired before that in TV and film is immense.
So what will it be called? Baldwin law?
Trump curse strikes again
Had to dig up one of these, eh, Variety? Then again, there do seem to be a lot of them.
Airsoft Replicas. Most pistols come with "blowback". Basically the slide makes the same motion as the real deal which makes it give a little kick, even with no ammo. Not sure about the revolvers.
With proper planning, I could see using real guns with blanks for close up shots and fake guns with effects added for other shots. If it calls for slo-mo shot a bullet begin fired, that can safely and easily accomplished at a range and for extra precautions a separate armorer that can’t work on the set.
Hollywood made dozens and dozens of real westerns for over 50 years without this happening…. So the guns aren’t the problem
Liberals should not be allowed to handle guns. Most actors are liberals so they should not be allowed to use real guns.
In the past, many actors handled guns in their personal lives and knew how they should be used. The retard actors we have now are not safe with them.
She’s probably right. When you are dealing with arrogant, selfish, ignorant, immature adult children, then sharp objects, things that go bang and normal people should be kept out of reach.
Many fundamental skills have been lost.
It’s like trying to find a skilled carpenter or machinist.
Just guessing but my guess is in the millions.
They do a lot more dangerous things on movie sets than firing blanks from real guns. And 99.9% of the time no one gets even a scratch.
Now this is a problem. What has changed? Not the guns, of course, but the competency and maturity level of those who are charged with firearms on the set. Have you ever looked at cuts from old movie production crews and thought, “How old everyone working there looks!” In a lot of ways, men who came before us in the movie industry (and almost everywhere else) were our betters in that they valued maturity and experience rather than diversity and the cult of youth.
The death of Eric Fleming (Rawhide) lead to having stunt doubles do more dangerous scenes. He drowned when boat tipped over while in rapids. Took several days to find his body.
i bet all the armorers out there are happy this silly koolaid haired girl single handedly destroyed their industry all in the name of being stylish...
her name is mud... next stop ONLY FANS!!!
Agree. Libs/commies aren’t our countrymen and I’m for them being totally disarmed.
I’ve been in the middle of an online argument on another board with a guy who works in the film industry. He’s given me every excuse in the book. I pointed out that Hollywood seems to thing they are special and have exceptions to everything, and gun handling is just another exception example.
He went ballistic on me. He wants to blame everyone else but who pulled the trigger.
Go figure.
I never would have thought the guns used in TV and movies were capable of firing. Why could they be, they’re just props, like the Star Trek Transporter. Just need to look right, don’t need to work.
But then movies are made by pretty much idiots...
Gun owners and 2nd amendment supporters have for the most part really made themselves look bad talking about this incident.
First, this happened on a movie set not a public shooting range. 99.9999% of gun owners have never been on a movie set where guns are being used in filming. In a nutshell gun owners don't have a clue what they are talking about when commenting on this tragedy.
There have only ever been a few deaths from guns being used in film or TV in decades and countless scenes in movies and TV. Considering the sheer number of times guns are used in movies one can only conclude the safety record for the film industry has been stellar to say the least. In fact Hollywood clearly has a better safety record with firearms than do shooters in the real world.
At this point in my opinion 2nd amendment supporters and firearms trainers, etc. really need to stop commenting and quoting gun safety rules until we know a little more about what happened. Stop with the firearms safety rules as they don't directly relate to safety on a movie set. Sure some of them will be similar but a movie set is a make believe situation not the real world so normal gun safety protocol would in many cases introduce more danger. Actors in many if not most cases know little to nothing about firearms. Can you imagine Angelina Jolie trying to make sure an MP5 SMG is safe before a scene? How about making sure a 1911 is clear or is only loaded with proper blank ammunition. You've got to be kidding. Even most firearms instructors have little to zero experience with blank firing guns or have even seen blanks and guns modified to use them in film and would not know how to begin to keep everyone safe on an action film movie set.
We don't know enough to point fingers at this time.
2A applies to movie makers.
Killing actors or crew does not.
If guns go, so should penises.
They can do discharges in post-production.
PS this equalizesTranss,too.
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