The Deadly Accident On Upcoming Film ‘Rust’s Set
The movie Rust has not been released yet, but it is already being discussed all across the country. The movie is about a 13-year-old boy and his younger brother who are left orphaned after their parents’ deaths. After the accidental killing of a local rancher, the boy and his distant grandfather start life on the run. While the premise of this movie is definitely compelling, the movie is getting lots of attention for other reasons. Alec Baldwin, the main star and partial producer of this movie, accidentally killed a woman and injured a director on the set. When a prop gun on the desert set of Rust was fired, unknowingly filled with ammunition, the cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was killed.
As of now, Alec Baldwin and the set’s armorer, Hannah Gutierrez Reed, have both been charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter. The assistant director David Halls has also been charged with negligent use of a deadly weapon. Another significant charge that was filed came from the victim’s family. This claim included the settlement that called for the continuing production on the film as well as the widower, Matthew Hutchins, becoming an executive producer. The reason the family has said they wish to continue the film is to pay tribute to Halyna and honor her final work. While the decision of who to pin the blame on has many sides to it, the most important factor is making sure that Halyna Hutchins gets the justice she deserves.
There are many people who should and are being held accountable for this tragedy but many are discussing who they think is at fault. On one side, people blame the production and armory department and say that it is in no way Alec Baldwin’s fault, but others say that since he was a producer he is also to blame. No matter how things ended, the fact that the ammunition was in the gun in the first place and stayed there is definitely questionable.
While this whole incident was very shocking and unexpected, it was not the first incident on the Rust set. Before the deadly shooting, there were more incidents that occurred that triggered the alarm in some crew members’ minds that the set was not as safe as it appeared. Several crew members told investigators that there were “two accidental discharges of blanks” that happened before the incident with Halyna. In light of this, numerous members of the cast and crew have signed an official letter to counter these claims that the set was dangerous.
The victim, Halyna Hutchins, was a cinematographer who also worked on the sets of films such as Darlin’, The Mad Hatter, and Archenemy. In 2019 she was selected as one of ‘American Cinematographers Rising Stars’ and also cinematographer for the 21st Century Fox DP Lab in 2018. She grew up in Ukraine on a Soviet military base in the Arctic Circle, surrounded by long cold winters and vast wildlife like polar bears or arctic hares. She had a degree in International Journalism and before cinematography she worked as an investigative journalist with British Documentaries. She is survived by her husband, Matthew Hutchins, and her son, Andros.
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