Recently, a tragic incident occurred on the set of the film Rust, starring Alec Baldwin. The incident involves the discharging of a firearm that is to be empty of live ammunition. Resulting in the death of the film’s cinematographer, as well as the hospitalization of its director. It remains whether or not the film finishes. But the event is liable to heavy consequences that will change the way of movies. An investigation is into all that gets wrong with the film’s safety protocols. Join Trender as a search warrant reveals new details on Alec Baldwin’s shooting.
Just recently, on the set of the film Rust, a tragic accident occurred. Alec Baldwin is trying to figure out where to pull his revolver after a shadow on the set prompt a spontaneous change of camera angle. While Alec is practicing his drawing, the film’s director, Joel Souza, turns his back and gets things ready for action. Suddenly, he heard a deafening noise come from behind him.
Although Alec Baldwin tells that the gun that he is holding didn’t contain any live ammunition, this is false. When Alec pulls the trigger, both Joel Souza and Rust’s cinematographer strike. The cinematographer is Halyna Hutchins, and she’s hurt in the chest. She screams that she can’t feel her chest and subsequently passes away at the hospital. Joel survived, but the fate of the film remains uncertain.
Before this incident occurred, there had already been a good deal of drama on the set of the film. As well, some of this drama had even involved the film’s safety protocols. Just prior to the incident, six members of the film’s crew had quit. The walkout occurs after numerous complaints to the production company about payment and housing arrangements. The fatal incident occurred amidst the chaos of this walkout.
Recent testimoRecent testimony from the film’s director states what happen that injures him and killed Rust’s cinematographer. When it happens, a replacement camera crew hires. This replacement camera crew equips to film with one camera, which added immense pressure to the set.
Besides Alec Baldwin and Joel Souza, there are two people who handle the firearm that causes the fatal incident. These two people include the film’s armorer, Hannah Gutierrez Reed, and the film’s assistant director, Dave Halls. Of these two, Dave Halls blames for unsafe conditions on sets.
Dave Halls was the assistant director on the set of the film Freedom’s Path. Everyone saw the crew members hurt in a scenario that isn’t different from the one that is more on Rust. However, the incident on Freedom’s Path didn’t cause any deaths, so not as much attention calls to it.
Another 2019 film that saw Dave Halls taking assistant directing duties was The Pale Door. Apparently, Dave brings onto the film after filming had already begun. He was to serve as a replacement for a woman by the name of Courtney Hope Therond. Courtney had quit the production due to safety concerns on the film’s set. After Courtney quit, the film’s producers turned to Dave as an alternative who apparently didn’t mind unsafe filming conditions.
The issue of Courtney with the production of The Pale Door filming in Oklahoma without plans for a tornado struck. The film is shots in an area with tornadoes. It is common practice on a film set in the region to have a secure plan in place for occurrence. Although the film runs without any apparent issues, one can imagine that this cannot be an easy case.
Dave Halls more recently came under scrutiny during the filming of an action film by the name of One Way. The film is shot in Georgia, there’s a scene that uses a piece of machinery called a “Russian Arm”. It is a device that is difficult to handle and uses on a film set for safety training. A variety of protocols to follow.
In the film, the Russian Arm scene for One Way becomes apparent to train the third party. It contracts to operate the piece of equipment that no safety meetings and proper protocols aren’t put in place. The man involuntary directs the scene himself and those on the set got lucky that things end up smoothly. If you’re enjoying this video so far, be sure to hit the like button to show your support! While you’re at it, subscribe to the channel if you like to know more Trender videos are on their way!
Things go smoothly and Dave Halls is in charge despite lacking safety protocol. If not, things didn’t work out quite as well on the set of Rust. It appears as if the film’s assistant director had a habit of not taking safety seriously on the sets of his films, and Rust just happened to be the film where the results were too extreme to ignore.
Besides Dave Halls, Alec Baldwin, and Joel Souza, the other person that handled the firearm that went off and caused the fatal incident was armorer Hannah Gutierrez Reed. Hannah was the one that handed the gun to Alec. When she did so, she yelled “cold gun”. In the set of films, yelling “cold gun” is the armorer’s way of letting everyone know that the gun handle does not contain any live ammunition. However, as we now know, Hannah’s claim turned out to be incorrect.
Preparation for the scene that is set on the day of the incident just before the cast and crew take lunch. They return from lunch and resume rehearsal for the scene, without anyone double-checking the status of the weapons that prepare for the shoot.
Many have mentioned the possibility that someone could have snuck live rounds into the firearm while the cast and crew were taking their lunch. Although firearms themselves check for live ammunition, the cast and crew members on film sets rarely are. Because of this, any member of the film’s cast or crew could’ve theoretically had live ammunition on them the day that the incident occurred. The incident ended up transpiring during rehearsal, while director Joel was looking over cinematographer Halyna’s shoulder. The shot went through Joel’s right shoulder and into Halyna’s chest.
After the incident occurred, several crew members called 911. One such crew member was Mamie Mitchell, who was the film’s script supervisor. During Mamie’s panicked call, she expressed to the authorities that she was incredibly angry with Dave Halls and that the incident was entirely his fault.
The authorities still haven’t determined what type of bullet is fired that ended up killing Rust’s cinematographer and injuring its director. They are still performing ballistics and forensics analysis, and they have got a great deal of evidence to sort through. Their investigation will not limit specifically to the incident that results in Halyna’s death, but to the lack of property safety practices on the film’s set in general.
Perhaps the most troubling aspect of this whole story is the fact that a separate accidental discharge of a prop firearm had occurred on the set of Rustless than a week previously. The incident saw a stuntman fire a loads gun that he knows a “cold gun”. Luckily, the bullet didn’t find its way into anyone, so filming continued.
For the time being, the filming of Rust put on hold pending the investigation. Possibly, filming will never resume. However, the director remains optimistic and refuses to rule out the notion that the film could be finished. Even if the film ends up seeing the light of day, it will be hard for those critiquing it to look past the death that occurred on its set.
The death of Halyna Hutchins certainly isn’t the first death that has occurred on the set of a film. However, it’s looking to be one of the more impactful ones in terms of what it means for the film industry. The industry tends to take its safety standards fairly seriously and has worked hard to get to a point where deaths and injuries on the sets of films are a rare occurrence. Once authorities find out what caused the incident on Rust to occur, it will likely spark some changes in the industry.
While authorities are trying to figure out how exactly this tragic incident occurred, those close to Alec Baldwin are advising him to keep his mouth shut. The notoriously loud-mouthed actor came out in the days after the event with a statement on Twitter. The statement included Alec expressing that he had personally apologized to Halyna’s husband and son, but it’s doubtful that this apology meant much to them. Even though the incident likely wasn’t Alec’s fault, it seems like it would be best for him to keep his mouth shut on this one until much later.
Until the authorities finish their investigation, it’s hard to say what the consequences of Halyna Hutchins’ death on the set of Rust will be. Comment down below to share if you were shocked to learn about Dave Halls’ previous history of ignoring the safety of his cast and crew on the set of his films, or if you think that films need to have more intensive safety standards on their sets in general. As always, like this video to show your support, and subscribe and hit the notification bell if you’d like to be among the first to know when more awesome Trender videos are on their way!
