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The breakthrough came in a hail of gunfire on the 2013 Brad Pittstarring World War II tank epicFury.
He wanted to bring this supreme level of accuracy to everything.
The solution turned out to be as inexpensive as it was hazard-minimizing.
But entertainment-industry consensus regarding the abolition of real guns remains elusive.
(Stahelski and Leitch declined to comment for this story.
Representatives for Bay, Lin, and Vaughn did not respond to requests for comment.)
Are you kidding me?, he responded when asked if he would consider banning live ammunition.
If youre doing target practice at lunchtime, somebody should get fired.
The actors at the time basically said, We dont want to be in the scene.
But then the industry started to shift.
I got 12 actors on the set.
I got watches and food to deal with.
How do you expect me to keep an eye on handguns as well?
Thats when it became, Hey, we need guys that all they do is focus on the guns.
Over the intervening years, certain aspects of the on-set handling of live firearms have remained constant.
We get scripts; we break them down.
We have show-and-tells with directors and then we rent those weapons for the run of the show.
Well, now we got to go out and look at the location.
What are the parameters?
Whats our safety distances?
And maybe because of the location, there will be sound ordinances.
Its going to be a night shoot, so we cant do full loads.
Only quarter-loads because its not as loud.
Theres a lot that we as armorers have to decide upon.
Despite the growing list of job responsibilities for armorers, mishaps like the one on theRustproduction are exceedingly rare.
Hence, Fox feels sweeping reforms to ban real guns are unnecessary.
Is there much smoke?
Most discussions of abolishing functional firearms these days land on their go-to replacement: airsoft guns.
Earplugs are passed out, and everyone has to wear them.
Plexiglass is put up by the camera if its firing anywhere near the camera.
Plywood is put up around stuff.
It just eats time.
Its not in directing.
Its not in working with the actors.
Its not in getting a better performance.
Its just in getting things safe.
As a second-unit director on the Crackle TV seriesChosen, he was first exposed to airsoft guns clear upsides.
They cannot fire bullets.
They are pellet guns that look just like the real thing, says Rock.
They dont give you the full recoil you would get from firing a gun with a blank.
Theres no safety meeting to be had because youre not making a big loud noise.
No particles are flying out the front.
Everything is digital now.
So its not as hard to pull the plates.
It used to be, Oh, its film.
And there are many [VFX] studios that are less expensive.
You could literally shoot somebody point-blank with a solid-plug gun, says Licari.
You get the slide movement, and you get a shell ejection.
But theres no muzzle flash.
I dont like airsofts because I dont have a complete way of checking the barrel.
And even with an airsoft, Im still expelling something out of the front of that gun.
But the point is, Hey, I still have compressed air coming from the front of this gun.
I can still put your eye out with it.
The gun I used was solid, but its got a little hold in the end.
But you could pull it back, so theres recoil.
You pull the trigger, it goes bang, and thats it.
And Scott says he told Elba, When he puts the gun to your head, you taunt him.
Lean on the gun and say, What are you going to do shoot me, Frank?
And Frank turns away and just pulls the trigger.
Well, theres a recoil.
Idris fell like a stone thought hed been shot in the head!
I do think there is value in using blanks on set, Thurber toldInsider.
Both from a performance and photographic standpoint.
I think actors perform differently when theres sound and light coming from the weapon.
When asked how live rounds could have made their way onto theRustset, Fox remained perplexed.
I have no idea, he says.
They should never be on set.
