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In wake of Baldwin's misfire, should CGI replace guns on set?

After Alec Baldwin fatally shot a cinematographer on a film set by accident with a prop gun, a petition was launched over the weekend calling on Hollywood to replace live weapons with computer-generated imagery when filming. 

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With computer-generated imagery, it seems the sky鈥檚 the limit in the magic Hollywood can produce: elaborate dystopian universes; trips to outer space; immersive journeys to the future, or back to bygone eras.

But as a shocked and saddened industry was reminded this week, many productions still use guns 鈥� real guns 鈥� when filming. And despite rules and regulations, people can get killed, as happened last week when Alec Baldwin fatally shot cinematographer Halyna Hutchins after he was handed a weapon and told it was safe.

The tragedy has led some in Hollywood, along with incredulous observers, to ask: Why are real guns ever used on set, when computers can create gunshots in post-production? Isn鈥檛 even the smallest risk unacceptable?

For Alexi Hawley, it is. 鈥淎ny risk is too much risk,鈥� the executive producer of ABC鈥檚 police drama 鈥淭he Rookie鈥� announced in a staff memo Friday, saying the events in New Mexico had 鈥渟haken us all.鈥�

There 鈥渨ill be no more 鈥榣ive鈥� weapons on the show,鈥� he wrote in a note, first reported by The Hollywood Reporter and confirmed by The Associated Press.

Instead, he said, the policy would be to use replica guns, which use pellets and not bullets, with muzzle flashes added in post-production.

The director of the popular Kate Winslet drama 鈥淢are of Easttown,鈥� Craig Zobel, called for the entire industry to follow suit and said gunshots on that show were added after filming, even though on previous productions he has used live rounds.

鈥淭here鈥檚 no reason to have guns loaded with blanks or anything on set anymore,鈥� Mr. Zobel wrote on Twitter. 鈥淪hould just be fully outlawed. There鈥檚 computers now. The gunshots on 鈥楳are of Easttown鈥� are all digital. You can probably tell, but who cares? It鈥檚 an unnecessary risk.鈥�

Bill Dill 鈥� a cinematographer who taught Ms. Hutchins, a rising star in her field, at the American Film Institute 鈥� expressed disgust in an interview over the 鈥渁rchaic practice of using real guns with blanks in them, when we have readily available and inexpensive computer graphics.鈥�

Mr. Dill, whose credits include 鈥淭he Five Heartbeats鈥� and 鈥淒ancing in September,鈥� said there was added danger from real guns because 鈥減eople are working long hours鈥� on films and 鈥渁re exhausted.鈥�

鈥淭here鈥檚 no excuse for using live weapons,鈥� he said.

A petition was launched over the weekend on change.org for real guns to be banned from production sets.

鈥淭here is no excuse for something like this to happen in the 21st century,鈥� it said of the tragedy. 鈥淭his isn鈥檛 the early 鈥�90鈥檚, when Brandon Lee was killed in the same manner. Change needs to happen before additional talented lives are lost.鈥� Mr. Lee, the actor son of martial arts legend Bruce Lee, was killed in 1993 by a makeshift bullet left in a prop gun after a previous scene.

The petition appealed to Mr. Baldwin directly 鈥渢o use his power and influence鈥� in the industry and promote 鈥淗alyna鈥檚 Law,鈥� which would ban the use of real firearms on set. As it stands, the U.S. federal workplace safety agency is silent on the issue and most of the preferred states for productions take a largely hands-off approach.

Ms. Hutchins died and director Joel Souza was wounded Thursday on the set of the Western 鈥淩ust鈥� when Mr. Baldwin fired a prop gun that a crew member unwittingly told him was 鈥渃old鈥� or not loaded with live rounds, according to court documents made public Friday.

Mr. Souza was later released from the hospital.

The tragedy came after some workers had walked off the job to protest safety conditions and other production issues on the film, of which Mr. Baldwin is the star and a producer.

In an interview, British cinematographer Steven Hall noted that he worked on a production this year in Madrid that involved 鈥渓ots of firearms.鈥�

鈥淲e were encouraged not to use blanks, but to rely on visual effects in post [production] to create whatever effect we wanted from a particular firearm, with the actor miming the recoil from the gun, and it works very well,鈥� he said.

He noted, though, that special effects add costs to a production鈥檚 budget. 鈥淪o it鈥檚 easier and perhaps more economic to actually discharge your weapon on set using a blank,鈥� said Mr. Hall, a veteran cinematographer who has worked on films like 鈥淔ury鈥� and 鈥淭hor: The Dark World.鈥� But, he said, 鈥渢he problem with blanks is, of course 鈥� something is emitted from the gun.鈥�

Besides financial concerns, why else would real guns be seen as preferable? 鈥淭here are advantages to using blanks on set that some people want to get,鈥� said Sam Dormer, a British 鈥渁rmorer,鈥� or firearms specialist. 鈥淔or instance, you get a [better] reaction from the actor.鈥�

Still, Mr. Dormer said, the movie industry is likely moving away from real guns, albeit slowly.

The term 鈥減rop gun鈥� can apply to anything from a rubber toy to a real firearm that can fire a projectile. If it鈥檚 used for firing, even blanks, it鈥檚 considered a real gun. A blank is a cartridge that contains gunpowder but no bullet. Still, it can hurt or even kill someone who is close by, according to the Actors鈥� Equity Association.

That鈥檚 why many are calling to ban blanks as well, and use disabled or replica guns.

鈥淩eally there is no good reason in this day to have blanks on set,鈥� director Liz Garbus wrote on Twitter. 鈥淐GI can make the gun seem 鈥榬eal,鈥� and if you don鈥檛 have the budget for the CGI, then don鈥檛 shoot the scene.鈥�

Broadway actor and playwright Harvey Fierstein wrote that the tragedy certainly made him wonder why Hollywood wasn鈥檛 leaning more on special effects.

鈥淲hy, with all of the Hollywood magic available, are they still firing off gun powder? They know that they are going to goose-up the gunshots in post production,鈥� he wrote on Facebook. 鈥淲hy chance an accident in the first place?鈥�

But he also said the death raised even broader questions.

鈥淲ith all of that Hollywood talent and imagination are we still writing stories about shooting one another?鈥� he asked. 鈥淒o we really have nothing better to spend millions of dollars on than the glamorization of gun battles?鈥�

This story was reported by The Associated Press.聽AP writers Lindsey Bahr, Lynn Elber in Los Angeles, Hillel Italie in New York, and Lizzie Knight in London contributed to this report.