Filming with firearms | Quebec’s leading gunsmith swears sets are safe

Alec Baldwin’s accidental fatal shooting on the set of Rust sent shock waves through the film industry and prompted productions to suspend the use of firearms. But the most important stage gunsmith in Quebec believes that it is possible to continue shooting action scenes in complete safety. Exceptionally, he opened his doors to us.

“I have worked on three sets since the accident. The technicians who have worked with us for years, they say that they cannot imagine that this would happen here, with the way we run our sets, ”says André (fictitious name).

The Quebec gunsmith is activated on a rifle while speaking. Next to him, a door leads to a large depot where countless weapons are piled up. The scene seems unreal. Revolvers of every imaginable model, assault rifles, heavy machine guns on a tripod, a rocket launcher. There seems to be enough of them to invade a small country: the facilities house thousands of firearms, real ones, but modified especially for television and cinema. They are protected by an impressive anti-theft device.

His boss and his boss, whom we will call Steve and Chantal, are discreet entrepreneurs, who have agreed to receive Press provided their real names are not used.

If a shoot in Quebec requires weapons, for a local or foreign production, they are the ones who provide them in the vast majority of cases.

“We have 90% of productions in Quebec. I made more than 2000 productions in 22 years ”, affirms Steve, gunsmith trained in Maniwaki. His first film was The Ultimate Weapon, feature film released in 1998 that starred wrestler Hulk Hogan and Quebec actor Carl Marotte. His first heavy series was Omertà, by Luc Dionne.

Then the contracts collapsed. When the character of Bruce Willis faced off against hitmen in Red 2, when the mutants escaped from a train in X-Men: Dark Phoenix, Chantal and Steve’s company supplied the rifles and blank bullets. Same thing when Karine Vanasse played paramilitary subcontractors in Blue moon or when Marie-Evelyne Lessard rubbed shoulders with extreme survivalists in Until the decline.

There are less than twenty companies in the world capable of offering this professional service to the large studios. Based on the outskirts of Montreal, Chantal and Steve do business under a federal permit and are subject to frequent inspections by the Sûreté du Québec. “It’s extremely difficult to get your license in Canada,” says Steve.

When moving to a plateau, their team must provide police officers with the serial number of each weapon, where it will be and when it is expected to return.

Only their qualified employees or they can touch the equipment, in addition to the actor, who must always be supervised, they explain. They don’t hesitate to cry out if an unauthorized person reaches out for a weapon. Even if it is a star.

A tragic accident

According to information that leaked into the accident in New Mexico on October 21, an actual cartridge, rather than a dummy bullet, ended up in the gun used by Alec Baldwin during filming. When he pointed the gun at the camera and pulled the trigger, the shot was fired and the projectile fatally struck cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.

The gunsmith of the shooting combined the tasks of assistant props at the same time and could not keep an eye on the guns all the time. US media also reported that members of the team used the gun for fun shooting cans with real ammunition in their spare time.

In Quebec, many agree that such a situation is difficult to imagine.

“We are not in the same context here. In the United States, carrying weapons is a common affair and in New Mexico perhaps even more, ”emphasizes Christian Lemay, president of the Alliance québécoise des technicians de l’image et du son. (AQTIS) local 514 AIEST, the union of audiovisual technicians.

His team never lets real ammo find its way to a plateau. All the weapons she uses are modified to fire only blank bullets, which cause a real explosion and a real flame, without throwing a projectile. The barrel is engineered for this purpose in their workshop.

Shoot sideways and find angles

But even a weapon whose barrel has been modified in this way must be handled with care. It is still a powerful mechanical object. A possible breakage could send a shard of metal flying through the air after a detonation.

“We never point our guns directly at someone to shoot. We’re going to say to the actor: “You shoot sideways and you find camera angles,” ”explains Steve.

On the upcoming movie Moonfall, from director Roland Emmerich, the Quebec gunsmiths recently managed a scene where 25 actors were shooting at the same time. On The Punisher, filmed in 2007, it was almost 60 people who opened fire. For the shooting of the series Jack ryan, a stuntman had to smash a window, then about fifteen people were shooting in all directions, crammed into a closed room.

“Everything was practiced for two days. Even if they were all packed, I never had a guy who pointed another actor directly, ”explains the gunsmith.

“When it’s too complicated, we isolate some of the actors, we shoot two guys at the same time. It’s complicated to manage, but it is doable. At the slightest hesitation, we don’t take the shot, ”says Maxime (fictitious first name, once again), employee of Steve and Chantal.

“There are American teams used to seeing handguns managed by props, and when they come here, with our expertise, we are able to give them shots that they usually can never do,” said the young gunsmith, who is the next generation of the company.

Petition and special effects

Since the accident involving Alec Baldwin, a petition has started to circulate calling for an end to the use of weapons on sets. Actor and producer Dwayne The Rock Johnson is particularly committed to using plastic weapons and adding the necessary special effects in post-production.

In Quebec, the technicians’ union says it is aware of a production currently being filmed which has taken a similar turn. Steve and Chantal got wind of a series that also wanted to temporarily suspend blank shots on the set.

But this approach does not appeal to all directors or all actors. The recoil effect, the glow of the flame on the face, the tension of those present when the blow strikes, all of this can be difficult (and expensive) to simulate.

“Say ‘Pow! Pow! ” holding a piece of 2 X 4 in your hands doesn’t put you in the action, ”Steve believes.

Sometimes, actors who have to act out the reaction of a character who hears an invisible shot on the screen also ask the gunsmiths to fire blank bullets for real, nearby, but off camera, in order to have a reaction. realistic.

Christian Lemay, from AQTIS local 514 AIEST, is used to seeing such waves of concern in his industry. “Whenever there is an unfortunate incident, there is a movement to ban stunts, or car maneuvers, or weapons like this time around. Usually, quietly, we regain confidence, and things get back to normal, ”he says.

However, he underlines that the union, with the employers and the Commission des normes, de l’énergie, de la santé et de la sécurité du travail (CNESST), intends to review its prevention sheets to update them in the wake of the accident in New Mexico.

Ultimately, he believes that Quebec remains one of the safest places to shoot action movies and series. “In Quebec, we took charge. I consider that we are cautious, if not more than anywhere else in the world. We are very vigilant, ”he assures us.