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Monday, October 25, 2021
Rust Shuts Down Production for Shooting Investigation
Variety: The producers of the movie “Rust” are suspending production while sheriffs investigate the circumstances of the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins that occurred when a gun handled by Alec Baldwin discharged on Thursday.
This entire situation is so sad and ridiculous. An actor should never have to go through this trauma because someone wasn’t on top of their game. And no one should have to witness it either. Crew members shouldn’t not be on top of their games because they are over worked and extremely exhausted. The more information that has been coming out about this event, the worse it gets. Working conditions for some affect the working conditions of all and it is unfortunate that this its what had to happen for people to start realizing it. I am glad that they are shutting down the production, at least temporarily. It makes me wonder what will happen with Alec Baldwin’s contract. What if he doesn’t want to return to the production after killing someone? Will they even allow that? This is a really rough situation and I hope that moving forward this production team can make better choices that set good standards for future movie makers.
This is a tragedy, there is no other way to describe it. So many people were traumatized and Halyna Hutchins lost her life. My mom texted me a link to an article about the incident and started asking me about it. My older brother also reached out and we had a conversation about how he hoped that I would never work on a show that used guns, especially because of my love of westerns. It hadn’t crossed my mind that I was about to enter an industry that had accidents like this happen and how events like this one would affect my family. I hope that Halyna Hutchins’ story is remembered and used as one that holds producers accountable. There was an Instagram post that went viral saying; “When producers cut corners, people die.” This statement really resonated with me because it is showing the start of a movement that will lead to better workers’ rights for everyone in the industry. This is something that should have never happened but with the alignment with current strikes, hopefully, it will be the last.
I am not even remotely surprised that production shut down on “Rust”, and I honestly will be surprised if they go forward with making the film. It is such a tragedy with what happened to Halyna Hutchins, and I for one am happy that they are having an in depth investigation. I believe that murder is murder no matter who commits it or if it was completely by accident. While I sympathies with the trauma that Alec Baldwin is going trough right now, and I don’t believe he did this on purpose at all, but I still do think this entire event need to be investigated in depth. It needs to be figured out how real bullets ended up in his gun, and why there where not safety precautions to check and make sure that the gun was safe for use. Some have also been pointing out how the production cut many corners and fired lots of union workers that threatened to strike. To some extent this tragedy shows just how bad cutting corners can be, and that especially when gun are involved films need to take many more precautions. This has also made me think quite a bit about my role as a costume designer. A gun could easily go off if dropped from a loose holster, or if a garment dose not fit properly and the actor in question trips. All aspects of film production need to reassess safety with firearms and I think it’s important that safety should be prioritized over aesthetics and looks.
3 comments:
This entire situation is so sad and ridiculous. An actor should never have to go through this trauma because someone wasn’t on top of their game. And no one should have to witness it either. Crew members shouldn’t not be on top of their games because they are over worked and extremely exhausted. The more information that has been coming out about this event, the worse it gets. Working conditions for some affect the working conditions of all and it is unfortunate that this its what had to happen for people to start realizing it. I am glad that they are shutting down the production, at least temporarily. It makes me wonder what will happen with Alec Baldwin’s contract. What if he doesn’t want to return to the production after killing someone? Will they even allow that? This is a really rough situation and I hope that moving forward this production team can make better choices that set good standards for future movie makers.
This is a tragedy, there is no other way to describe it. So many people were traumatized and Halyna Hutchins lost her life. My mom texted me a link to an article about the incident and started asking me about it. My older brother also reached out and we had a conversation about how he hoped that I would never work on a show that used guns, especially because of my love of westerns. It hadn’t crossed my mind that I was about to enter an industry that had accidents like this happen and how events like this one would affect my family. I hope that Halyna Hutchins’ story is remembered and used as one that holds producers accountable. There was an Instagram post that went viral saying; “When producers cut corners, people die.” This statement really resonated with me because it is showing the start of a movement that will lead to better workers’ rights for everyone in the industry. This is something that should have never happened but with the alignment with current strikes, hopefully, it will be the last.
I am not even remotely surprised that production shut down on “Rust”, and I honestly will be surprised if they go forward with making the film. It is such a tragedy with what happened to Halyna Hutchins, and I for one am happy that they are having an in depth investigation. I believe that murder is murder no matter who commits it or if it was completely by accident. While I sympathies with the trauma that Alec Baldwin is going trough right now, and I don’t believe he did this on purpose at all, but I still do think this entire event need to be investigated in depth. It needs to be figured out how real bullets ended up in his gun, and why there where not safety precautions to check and make sure that the gun was safe for use. Some have also been pointing out how the production cut many corners and fired lots of union workers that threatened to strike. To some extent this tragedy shows just how bad cutting corners can be, and that especially when gun are involved films need to take many more precautions. This has also made me think quite a bit about my role as a costume designer. A gun could easily go off if dropped from a loose holster, or if a garment dose not fit properly and the actor in question trips. All aspects of film production need to reassess safety with firearms and I think it’s important that safety should be prioritized over aesthetics and looks.
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