It may seem to all of us that ‘Rust’ should end its days as a cursed movie after Alec Baldwin unintentionally shot and killed Halyna Hutchins, but in Hollywood they have decided that the show must go on and they will finish the film with Hutchins’s widower serving as executive producer. Of course, the charges against the actor continue and now it is Michael Shannon who tries to explain the situation a bit in an interview with The Chicago Tribune.
very low budget
Shannon wasn’t on the set of ‘Rust’ but she knows something about how movies work, and more specifically low budget movies: “If it was up to the actor to determine whether or not to fire a firearm, you wouldn’t need a gunsmith in the first place. Being a gunsmith is hard and demanding work, and I have only respect for them. But in this case, It was like going to the ER and finding out that your doctor is not a real doctor.” Of course, he does not blame Baldwin, and affirms that he feels bad for him. But with nuances.
I feel terrible for everyone in that production. But this is what happens when you cut corners and hire people who may not be qualified, paying them next to nothing to make the cheap movie. People get jobs in this business because they are willing to work for very low wages. I see it all the time.
‘Rust’ cost 7 million dollars, and Shannon ends up blaming all this on the people who put up the money. and forces independent films to shoot with less budget than they should: “‘Rust’ is an example of a problem I see with filmmaking more and more these days. In smaller, independent productions, producers want more and more for much less. They don’t want to give you enough money. They cut expenses, ridiculously, in any way. And they get away with it. So every time somebody makes a big movie for a million dollars, he sets a precedent.”
It must also be said that Alec Baldwin was involved in the production of ‘Rust’, but is about to know its real involvementespecially with regard to the use of firearms.
You should not have the weapon in your hand until immediately before taking the shot. Sometimes they give you the gun to rehearse when you’re close to shooting, but there’s a procedure for that. They open the barrel. They teach you that there is nothing there. They show you the cameras, they show it to the assistant director, and there’s a visual confirmation. The assistant, the actor and the gunsmith are supposed to check it. The three people have to see that there is nothing there. And then they give it to you. With ‘Rust’, before that gun came into his hand, Baldwin should have seen with his eyes that there was nothing in it. The gunsmith should have brought the gun to him and said “Here’s your gun, it’s empty.” That was the catastrophic moment of ‘Rust’.