Friday, April 28, 2023
Guy Ritchie Won’t Use Real Guns on Film Sets After Rust Shooting
The Hollywood Reporter: Guy Ritchie says he won’t be using real guns on his movie shoots in the wake of the fatal shooting of Rust cinematographer Halyna Hutchins in 2021.
“That whole thing has changed now, the whole game has changed,” Ritchie told Newsweek in an interview ahead of his latest movie, Afghan War drama The Covenant, hitting theaters this weekend.
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3 comments:
I am actually really impressed that real change is happening. It is clear that many filmmakers are reconsidering their approach to using real guns on film sets after the tragedy that occurred when Halyna Hutchins lost her life. In this context, Guy Ritchie has decided not to use real guns on his movie sets in the future. Instead, he will use replica firearms or rely on post-production visual effects to create the illusion of gunfire. This decision aligns with the growing trend in the film industry to use digital and practical effects to create realistic-looking action sequences without putting actors and crew members in harm's way. Something that in the day and age of CGI is kind of a no-brainer. If you can make people look like aliens you can make a gun look real enough. Therefore, the decision of Guy Ritchie to use alternative methods for creating the illusion of gunfire is a fantastic proactive step toward preventing future accidents on film sets everywhere.
It is reasuring to see some people have taken this seriously. It is so frustrating to realize how much of a hold guns have on the US and how deadly situations don’t lead to a change in regulations. “When a hero in a film fires a gun and ends the life of a villain… It helps reassure [American audiences] that the individual has the power to solve things.” A quote that really puts everything into perspective. We need to address performative activism and the sense of false security it provides. There is a pattern after something tragic happens where a lot of media attention follows, then celebrities, politicians, and large organizations vow to implement change, then the media focuses on something else. Viewers trust that promises will be kept and don’t follow up. And even when they do, there is little support. We just passed the four year anniversary of the school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High and there has still been no major changes to gun regulations despite numerous calls to action and the largest protest ever in Washington, D.C.
The precaution of using fake guns on set as opposed to real weapons should have been made ages ago and not just after the tragic and deadly incident that was the shooting on the set of “Rust”. With convincing special effects and CGI real weapons should have been replaced with replicas years ago and not just after an accident occurs.Overall I respect Richies’ decision to keep real weapons off of the set and to replace them with airsoft guns. With airsoft guns looking almost identical to the real thing and being much safer there is really no reason not to make the switch to airsoft guns through the film industry. When reading about the rust shooting I was shocked there were still real loaded weapons on a film set to begin with. With so many things being faked for the movies firearms should definitely join that list as soon as possible.
Theo Kronemer
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