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- The answer is both yes and no. Prop guns used in movies can be actual firearms, replicas, or non-functional imitations of real guns. While some films still use real guns on set, there is a wide range of prop guns to choose from, depending on the specific needs of a movie scene, budget, and safety protocols.
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Oct 22, 2021 · LOS ANGELES — Hollywood was in a state of shock on Friday, one day after Alec Baldwin fired a gun being used as a prop on a New Mexico film set, killing a cinematographer and wounding the...
The answer is both yes and no. Prop guns used in movies can be actual firearms, replicas, or non-functional imitations of real guns. While some films still use real guns on set, there is a wide range of prop guns to choose from, depending on the specific needs of a movie scene, budget, and safety protocols.
- Overview
- The demands for change
- Is it feasible?
Hollywood’s technical maestros use computers to create eye-popping visual effects: the giant sandworms of “Dune,” the alien invaders of “A Quiet Place,” the majestic dragons of Marvel’s “Shang-Chi.”
So why are guns still used on movie sets when computer-generated images, or CGI, might substitute for the look, sound and visceral shock of the real thing?
That’s one of the questions many in the film industry are asking after the death of the cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, 42, on the set of the Western drama “Rust.” The tragedy is prompting calls for a wholesale re-evaluation of the way Hollywood uses guns.
In the wake of Hutchins’ death, some film and television professionals are pleading with their peers to ban real guns on sets — an online petition to do just that had amassed nearly 25,000 signatures by Monday morning.
A California state senator said he plans to introduce legislation that would outlaw firearms capable of firing live ammunition on productions in the state to “prevent this type of senseless violence and loss of life.”
“With firearms, you only get one mistake and somebody’s dead. There’s just no reason to take that risk,” Dave Cortese, a Democrat, said in an interview. “We understand [the industry] has protocols in place ... but that’s not been codified in state law.”
Craig Zobel, the director of the Emmy-winning HBO miniseries “Mare of Easttown,” drew one of the first lines in the sand after “Rust” actor and producer Alec Baldwin fired the gun that killed Hutchins.
“There’s no reason to have guns loaded with blanks or anything on set anymore. Should just be fully outlawed,” Zobel tweeted early Friday while the country absorbed the news.
“There’s computers now. The gunshots on ‘Mare of Easttown’ are all digital,” he added. “You can probably tell, but who cares? It’s an unnecessary risk.”
He was soon joined by other producers and directors. Alexi Hawley, the showrunner of the ABC police procedural “The Rookie,” said in a memo to cast and crew members that there would be “no more ‘live’ weapons on the show.”
In the future, all gunfire on “The Rookie” will come from airsoft guns — replica toys that use pellets instead of bullets — with CGI muzzle flashes added in post-production, Hawley wrote in the memo, first reported by The Hollywood Reporter and confirmed by NBC News.
“Any risk is too much risk,” he wrote.
Some industry professionals say there are a few reasons banning the use of guns on sets might not be practical for all productions, especially independent projects working with small budgets or tiny crews.
In general, CGI adds costs to a production’s budget, and adding visual effects to shots can take months.
“It’s oftentimes easier and more economical to actually discharge your weapon on set using a blank than it is to add a gun in CGI in post-production,” said Anna Halberg, a film producer who has worked on large-scale sci-fi and action projects.
Walt Disney Pictures has the financial resources and the lead time to add special effects to Marvel epics, for example, but small-scale movies — or even television shows operating on tighter turnaround schedules — are usually not so fortunate.
“You’ve got a very short delivery window in the TV industry, and so depending on how gun-heavy the project is, it definitely adds a lot of time in post-production,” said Halberg, who produced the coming space drama “Distant,” starring Anthony Ramos. (NBC News and Universal Pictures, the distributor of “Distant,” are both part of NBCUniversal.)
In addition, some Hollywood technicians and craftspeople prefer the verisimilitude that comes with using real guns loaded with blanks. The director might be able to draw a more authentic performance out of an actor using an actual weapon, or so the thinking goes.
Oct 22, 2021 · While many things still aren't known — police are investigating — The Associated Press looks at the use of firearms on film and television productions and the safety protocols in place.
Oct 23, 2021 · What is a prop firearm? It's a loose definition and could apply to anything from a rubber toy to a real firearm that can fire a projectile. However, if it's used for firing — even just blanks — it's considered a real gun. A blank is a type of gun cartridge that contains gunpowder but no bullet.
Oct 22, 2021 · What is a prop gun? Blanks are used in the film industry to imitate live ammunition. The reason they are so convincing is that blanks are essentially modified real bullets.
Jul 9, 2024 · There is no definitive set of regulations on the use of firearms across the film industry. According to the AP news agency, the US federal workplace safety agency...
