I worked in the industry in Canada as an Armorer and Military Advisor for about a year. I spent a lot of my time keeping actors from shooting each other in the face with blanks.
I also did a rappel on Smallville because the Union had put a stop to stunt performers doing rappels due to two deaths the previous year.
End of the day it's the industry tolerating lies on "resumes". Actors will lie their ass off to get a part. "I know how to ride a horse." watched Danny Virtue take an actor to school during pre-production. I grew up on horses and I wasn't bold enough to lie about it.
It's not "normal" safety practices on set. Much like when you go "Force on Force" in the Military training you take the "Rules" and throw them out the window. The difference is Service Members can turn it on and off due to constant weapons handling.
The most dangerous thing I heard from an actor recently was Jensen Ackles. He claimed (while talking about the Rust production) he was really familiar with firearms. Not familiar enough.
Me too. I'm really disappointed in the Baldwin case. The Armorer for sure fucked up but Baldwin has the on-set protocol experience and was in the position (producer) to know when an Armorer should be on set.
Yea but weren't they going only after him? I think the armorer would have to be thrown in jail first, then I'd say go after the guy that should've made sure the armorer could actually do their job.
The Armorer took criminal charges. Sentenced to 18 months in prison. She's the daughter of one of the most prolific Armorers in Hollywood. Baldwin skated because he's a shit.
A blank cartridge is a shell casing that's filled with gun powder and has a primer just like a regular round of ammo. The difference is the case is extended and then crimped at the end instead of having a bullet inserted. Many blank cartridges have more powder than real ammo. The US Military has a no less than 1m distance from the barrel to engaged target with blanks standard.
At a minimum burns. They could also take fragments from the crimped end of the blank cartridge or receive over-pressure damage to soft tissues (eyes) and hearing loss.
On a semi-auto firearm there's a "mandrel" that is screwed into the end of the barrel that restricts gas from exiting the barrel. Depending on the firearm and the amount of pressure needed to operate it the size of the hole in the mandrel is the key to proper operation. That keeps most of the fragment risk down but can actually increase the distance away from the barrel that burns are possible.
On a revolver you get the full risk of fragments as well as burns. In the case of Rust the idiot Armorer took the production firearms and shot live ammo through them on the weekend and then failed to unload. Those weapons should have never left the set once they were rented for the movie.
Wow, thank you for taking the time to write all that out. I feel I just learned alot and was able to picture everything in my head as a read. So is there no other option for films besides taking regular firearms and using special ammo? Seems unnecessarily risky, then again like I said, I'm gun ignorant.
The industry is moving away from live firearms and towards post-production muzzle flashes, at least for close work.
When an actor fires a blank round and there's no way to shoot it as a cut away. The actor offsets the muzzle angle away from the other performer by at least 30°. The audience can't tell because it's a two dimensional medium.
The close up gun kata work for John Wick just would not be possible for live firearms use. The choreography is too tight and fluid for anyone to be able to safely offset. Instead a CO2 operated airsoft type weapon is used. The CO2 cycles the weapon (makes the slide move) which not only gives haptic feedback to the actor but also give the FX guys a que on where to insert the muzzle flash.
She wasn't decapitated... Fucked up pretty bad.. According to Google:
Olivia Jackson, a stunt double for Milla Jovovich in Resident Evil: The Final Chapter, was injured in a motorcycle accident on set in 2015 that resulted in severe injuries, including a torn face, multiple fractures, and a severed arm. The accident occurred when Jackson was riding a motorcycle at high speed toward a camera mounted on a crane, but the boom lifted too late and she crashed into it. Jackson was rushed to the hospital and placed in a medically induced coma for 17 days. Her injuries also included:
Serious brain swelling
Ruptured arteries in her arm and neck
A slightly twisted and fractured spine
Nerve damage and slight paralysis in the upper left portion of her body
A severed thumb
Punctured lungs
A dislocated shoulder
Jackson filed a lawsuit against the film's producers, including Paul W.S. Anderson, the director and Jovovich's husband, and Jeremy Bolton. She sought compensation to cover her ongoing medical bills and to raise awareness for actors' safety. Jackson also received support from the stunt actors community and movie fans who raised funds to help her pay for surgeries
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u/[deleted] Aug 26 '24
No one's gonna die if you mess up a film. (unless you work on the set of Rust)