Hearing about the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of Rust, a new western movie, was shocking for Grand Rapids filmmaker Marcel Gamble.
"It's very tragic," he says. "I want to pray for her family and pray for Alec Baldwin as well you know, and that whole crew that was on set and had to witness that."
Santa Fe Law Enforcement say actor Alec Baldwin shot a prop gun that was loaded while performing. The weapon was supposed to fire blanks, which would produce a flash and bang, but nothing else. New court records find the movie's assistant director handed Baldwin the loaded gun by mistake, and it's something that Gamble says he can't imagine happening on one of his sets.
"I have never used the prop gun that way," he says.
His second movie Leo wrapped and it was filmed all over Grand Rapids using pellet and air soft guns.
"I even go as far as breaking some of them so you can't tell that they're broken on camera, but I might like break the trigger or break the hammer or something on it just to make sure there is no possibility of of it firing on someone while we are like filming a scene," Gamble says.
Instead of using blanks, the weapons Gamble uses are unloaded and the effects are added later.
"I'm trying to be like extra safe and I don't know if it's because I'm doing smaller productions here," he says.
He's heard of plenty of films using blanks, and for now it's something he plans to steer clear from, especially during intense fight scenes.
"That has been my number one fear of it, you know, fight scenes, getting a little out of hand on set," Gamble says.
He says he's no stranger to accidental minor injuries on set, after someone got hurt during a fight scene while filming Leo.
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