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RE: The sad truth
Not always, but they're usually on the ball--and crooks aren't always as smart as depicted on TV, either. The biggest problem police in real life have is that they have to play by the rules or see their cases thrown out--there's none of that working around the rules TV cops do. Not to mention test results don't come back the same day!
As much as I dislike Baldwin, I think his biggest problem here is ignorance: He doesn't know crap about guns, which means he probably just accepts what he's told about them. Now, someone else planning it out--that does make a certain amount of sense. It would make a great plot for a story, too. Maybe they should ask the movie writers?
Of course some of the TV stuff is far fetched, else it wouldn'd be excieting, right? And those 10 minute DNA tests... well, it wouldn't look cool if they say "Ok guys, the test is on its way. Lets all continue on that case next week." :)
And true, in real life cops have to work by rules, but sometimes I have the impression that is a excuse to not use the brain too much. I have seen stuff, where the investigation effort was totally rediculous.
In the Baldwin case, I think its a typical thing of work routine fail. Kind of "We always done it this way and it worked, so what could go wrong - we are all pros and good buddies." And may be someone has taken advantage of just that attitude.
Perhaps it would be a good time to make real guns on film sets illegal. Today its not neccessary to actually fire a gun - using blanks - for making a film. All that can be inserted with CGI in the postroduction. Its probably even cheaper by now. Because shooting with real guns and blanks is surprisingly difficult. In automatic weapons it doesn't work well at all, unless the gun is modified for that use. And its extremly loud, so really everybody on the film set should wear ear defenders - which is again a problem for the actors.
So its not only safety concerns speaking for a CGI solution.
CGI could solve a lot of problems: For instance, we could get rid of Alec Baldwin and just use his fake double!
Talking about Baldwin - I just read some statements he made. He said, he didn't pull the trigger but pulled the hammer half way back and then let it flip. That made the gun fire. Which is weird, since revolvers normally have a half cock notch to allow the cylinder to rotate freely and as a safety to prevent just that from happening. So that may have been manipulated, too.
Someone made a video about it now:
Thats strange, but doesn't really change the fundamental issue - that he didn't check if it was loaded or not. And he also said, his career as a actor is probably over. So you don't have to wait until CGI replaces him...
Yeah, I messed with my revolver too, just to be sure of that (unloaded, of course). The short answer is, he's lying. My understanding is that this movie was basically his production, meaning he's ultimately responsible for everything that happens. Having said that, he's hated enough that I suppose someone could try to sabotage him.
As for his career being over--don't be so sure. The liberal Hollywood elite protect their own as much as they can. He'll probably lay low for awhile and then make a return, unless someone accuses him of sexual misconduct.
Yes, normally this should not happen with a revolver, just as the video explains. On the other hand.... movie prop guns are usually rented from professional prop gun suppliers. And they have different categories of quality guns, going from proper fully functional guns, converted blank firing guns, to non funktional guns and even dummy guns made of plastic or wood. I watched a video about a Canadian company that does that. They have everything from a Derringer to a 40mm Bofors AA cannon, and from 17th century to the most modern stuff. And not only one each, they have thousands of guns.
But I digress... it could happen that some guns - that are not meant to be fired - have malfunctions. Like the hammer half notch safety not working or so.
However. Its not really important if Baldwin just played around with the hammer and it fired, as he claims, or if he did pull the trigger. The gun should not have fired in any case - since there was no live rounds meant to be in it. So the real culprid is the person who loaded the gun and gave it to Baldwin.
That career end thing was said by Baldwin himself. But sure, he may get away with it and come back once gras has grown over the case. If that doesn't take too long, since he is not a spring chicken anymore.
I have a couple of replicas myself--they can be amazingly realistic.
Yes I know, I also have a Colt Peacemaker replica. And for movies its not so critical anyway. Often its only for extras who march along or stand guard, who are never shown closely. For that they have those plastic or wood replicas. That way the extras also cannot steal real guns or break them, since they are really expensive. The plastic ones are fairly cheap, and they can always make some more if needed. This canadian firm has literally warehouses full of that stuff. All the different rifles from the old days like the independence war, civil war, WW1, WW2 and whatever, and from the relevant countries like Britain, France, American, German ect.
The real guns are only used if it actually is seen firing in the scene. That takes much more effort then. And it cost much more, too. Especially, if the customer wants a lot of unusual stuff, or even modifications. Do you know that a original working Thompson machine gun from WW2 in good condition can cost 40-50,000$ ? So if you break one in a film production you probably have to deal with some very unhappy people... :)
Also its quiete difficult to make automatic guns fire blanks. In a standard automatic or semi automatic gun it doesn't work at all. Well, it will fire one shot, but not cycle as its supposed to do. So to make that work they have developed certain tricks, like narrowing the barrel diameter, use lighter springs and other workarounds. Its a whole science by itself. But they do have tons of experience from many years. The guy was talking about the movies they fitted out with guns - just about every action blockbuster in the past 30 or so years.
Don't forget the rubber guns they sometimes produce so the actors don't get hurt! Every now and then you can see one bounce on screen.
Don't get me started on the Thompson machine guns--that's my favorite weapon, and I've always wanted one of my own. If it happens at all, I'll have to settle for a replica.
Well, thats another option - and perhaps one that may soon come. But that would be the beginning of the end of actual actors. And also it would mean, that we never get rid of some characters. Then we would get Rambo XXXVIII in 2065, and Stallone still looks the same as in the 80s. It would be bad news for cosmetic surgeons, though.
It's already been done pretty well in some of the Star Wars properties--at the end of The Mandalorian there's a cameo by a huge character that couldn't have been done without the CGI de-aging process. Still, I'm not thrilled at the idea.
It would certainly be a loss if there are no real actors anymore. At least with some actors.
Some actors I would miss more than others!