Sequel to the news on front page about film actor "Alec Baldwin" accidentally shooting the film cinematographer "Halyna Hutchins" for his movie "Rust". I want to share with us what a prop gun is ,how it works,and how it can be fatal or cause death...


First, it’s important to understand what the term “prop gun” means in this context. People tend to assume it refers to non-functional weapons of the sort used in theatrical performances, or toy guns that fire caps to produce smoke. And while it’s true that those are also prop guns, the term also applies to real guns that are used as props.

The reason a production would use a real gun is simple: Verisimilitude. As firearms instructor Dave Brown wrote for American Cinematographer magazine in 2019, real firearms add authenticity to close-up shots in particular. Anyone who’s ever held a gun can confirm that a real gun looks, weighs and handles different from an inert prop.

But, Brown noted, they also require experts on set to make sure they’re properly handled at all times. That’s because a gun is still a gun, regardless of what’s in it. And that brings us to how a gun loaded with blanks can kill someone.

The term “blank’ is a shorthand version of the full term, blank cartridge. Notice I said cartridge and not bullet. A cartridge is a unit of ammunition fed into the barrel of a gun comprised of several parts: The casing (sometimes called a shell); propellant material (gunpowder) inside the shell; a firing pin on the bottom of the cartridge; and at the tip of the cartridge, the actual projectile (bullet) itself. Here’s an example, courtesy of Hunter-Ed.com:


When you pull the trigger, the firing pin is struck, igniting the gunpowder, causing an explosion of superhot gasses that propels the bullet out of the barrel. The shell casing is then expelled from the gun as a new cartridge is loaded into the chamber,

A blank is a cartridge that has all of that except for the projectile at the tip. Instead the tip is crimped or otherwise sealed with paper wadding or wax to hold in the gunpowder. Which means, theoretically, when you pull the trigger, you’ll get the bang, recoil, muzzle flash, and an ejected shell, without the deadly supersonic bullet ending whatever you pointed the gun at.

But, remember when we mentioned muzzle flash and superheated gas? That is still very much being expelled from the gun. And bullet or no bullet, that means anything near the end of that barrel is in danger.

Baawaa:
They don't need real guns in movies

sholikay:
Previous thread: https://www.nairaland.com/6814625/alec-baldwin-fatally-shoots-woman




Copied from. https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/prop-gun-using-blanks-still-052227936.html

Baawaa:
They don't need real guns in movies

Baawaa:
They don't need real guns in movies

michlins:
What will he be charged with

Tolulopefinest:
Who else Still don't understand what prop guns means even after reading this ?

paskal16:
it’s a prop gun sir meaning it’s an accident
He might not be charged

lesbiconverter:
It's prop gun not real

paskal16:
it’s a prop gun sir meaning it’s an accident
He might not be charged

Tolulopefinest:
Who else Still don't understand what prop guns means even after reading this ?

ValCon888:
Feel so bad for Alec Baldwin. One of my favourite actors.