Wednesday, November 03, 2021
Prop Master and Daughter of Martin Scorsese on 'Rust' Shooting
www.businessinsider.com
: My father kneeled down on the sidewalk next to me so that we'd be eye to eye and asked what I'd thought of the film. I didn't say much, but then he said, "You got any questions?" and I found myself blurting out, "How did they get all the blood to work like that and look so real?"
I should have known then one day I'd work in props.
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4 comments:
One of the most interesting ideas I found in this article was; “Where I had to exhibit a knowledge of firearm safety to earn my union card.” This is something that was shared by Cathy Scorsese. I did not know that this was something that was necessary to become a part of the union. I find this a little unsettling, especially because of how much technology has advanced in order to not require real firearms in movies. The history of gun violence in the United States has cut too deep for this to be a continuous issue. I am incredibly happy that this issue is finally being talked about but it shouldn’t have had to result in someone’s death to get attention. Something that I would be interested in seeing is how much this is being talked about outside of the industry. Now that I am surrounded by theatre kids all the time it is hard to gauge how important people outside the theatre world think this is. My parents certainly are aware of it but I think that attests to their worry for their daughter more than their awareness of the industry.
Towards the end of the article, Jenny Powers, daughter of director Martin Scourse and experienced props master, states that “since last week’s tragedy, there’s been a recent push to ban firing weapons on set”. This is not unexpected, especially given the degree of severity of and worldwide attention Halyna Hutchins’s death garnered; it’s just somewhat disheartening that it took the loss of someone’s life for the push to actually happen. While one can argue that firing weapons are needed for specific effects and action execution, the safety and lives of all of the cast and crew should always be the first priority. And with the Rust incident, it is clear that fundamental changes with the work environment culture of the film industry are needed as well. Powers articulates this issue very well in the article, giving personal stories on and pointing out the flippant attitude many companies have developed towards their employees in modern day.
If even the daughter of Martin Scorsese is emphasizing a need for change in film production conditions, you know its bad in the industry right now. Its so appalling that even she has lost a close friend in the film industry to falling asleep while driving. The work hours within the industry are honestly so appalling and part of me worries that we wont see real change. While I believe the threat of the IATSE strike was a major step in the right direction, I still believe more needs to be done. Far too many have died from being too sleep deprived from working on set only get into a car crash trying to get home. I also think its very important that props people speak up about the tragedy that happened on the “Rust” set, because there where clearly many safety concerns that should be changed within the greater props community. Firearms need to be treated as firearms and not simply props, and they should never be live ammo anywhere on set unless absolutely necessary. Hopefully, in the coming years the industry changes for the better as more and more of these issues are raised and addressed, but it certainly will not be an easy change.
I’m glad the article talks about the deeper issue behind the tragic loss of Halyna Hutchins, that the industry doesn’t pay enough attention to the safety of everyone on set. And this safety is also a lot broader than it seems; it’s not just about whether firearms should be used on set/stage. It’s also about the safety of workers on their way to and from work; their safety in terms of their health conditions and much more. Cathy Scorsese talks about going through tests in order to join the Unions of IATSE, which is a good thing because it shows that there are indeed protocols and procedures. But at the same time, it also says just how ridiculously wrong and careless of the prop team that the gun used by Alec Baldwin was not examined closely enough. It is also disappointing that it took a death for people to realise how dangerous it is to be working on set/in theatre. Like Cathy said, “one fatality is too many”.
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