Last Thursday, director of photography Helena Hutchins was accidentally killed while filming "Rust" with a pistol in the hands of the famous actor Alec Baldwin, where he was supposed to be loaded with blanks.

This death is the latest in a long list of camera crew members killed on the job, and analysts see the film crew as the most dangerous profession in cinema, even more than the stunt cast instead of the original cast.

American actor Alec Baldwin (French)

Ammunition was live and the reason is a game

And it was announced, according to CNN, that the "Rust" crew used guns and live ammunition to play a game called (Plinking) hours before the killing of Halina Hutchins, in which players shoot live bullets at bottles and cans of spirits, and one of these weapons is what later arrived at The hand of actor Alec Baldwin, who fired the shot that killed the photographer, and wounded director Joel Sousa.

And this is not the first time that live ammunition has been used on filming locations, nor is it the first time that it leads to tragic accidents, for example, in 2019, shootings took place in Arkansas on the set of "Freedom's Path", and the incident caused some injuries.

Film director Bandar Albuliwi launched a "petition" to ban the use of real weapons, signed by 28,000 people so far. "We need to make sure that this avoidable tragedy does not happen again. There is no An excuse for something like this to happen in the 21st century. Real guns are no longer needed during film production. This isn't the early '90s, when Brandon Lee was killed the same way. Change has to happen before more talent is lost."

In addition to calls for Alec Baldwin to support this petition and to use his power and influence in the Hollywood film industry to bring about change and ban real guns.

Halyna Hutchins is being remembered by close friend Bandar Albuliwi as a "bright, talented soul."

Plus, he has launched a https://t.co/aTaQ20finF petition to ban live firearms on movie and TV sets.

https://t.co/XiUjjbHpVk pic.twitter.com/en3p7cwHeD

— ExtraTV (@extratv) October 23, 2021

And moves have already begun in Hollywood to ban the use of live or non-live ammunition, or even real pistols and rifles, inside filming locations and replace them with custom-made models and complementary visual effects, and on Friday, the police drama “The Rookie” was banned on ABC ABC. The use of weapons, and the makers of the series "The Boys" showed solidarity with it.

Over 28,000 people and counting have signed a petition following the tragic shooting of Halyna Hutchins on the set of Alec Baldwin's movie, "Rust."

They're asking Hollywood studios to stop using real guns on film and TV sets https://t.co/SH1BkYzHTR #HalynaHutchins

— Change.org (@Change) October 25, 2021

Photography is the most dangerous profession in cinema

In the last ten years, 4 members of the filming team were killed and on filming locations in the United States only, which is twice the number of deaths in the substitute actors or the so-called Doppler. This danger comes because the camera crews work directly in front of the event, there is no protection barrier between them and a speeding car. Or a moving train or a bullet but the camera, so they are injured in plane or helicopter crashes, drowning, or by a fleeing car during the events of the film, or the truck carrying the camera overturned.

For example, assistant cameraman Sarah Jones died at the age of 27 in 2014 due to a freight train during the filming of a scene from the movie "Midnight Rider." After pleading guilty to manslaughter, her death led to a movement called Safety for Sarah that still strives to make filming locations safer.

The vigil carried a disheartening sense of deja vu.

In 2014, hundreds of film workers held a march on Sunset Boulevard after the death of camera assistant Sarah Jones, who was struck by a freight train during the filming of “Midnight Rider.”

https://t.co/vHvDP5Vboz

— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) October 25, 2021

And Sarah's incident is not the only one. In 2013, photographer Darren Rydstrom and two others were killed in northern Los Angeles County, when their helicopter crashed while filming an untitled reality show - because it was not shown - for the Discovery Channel.

In 2011, photographer Greg Jacobsen was killed in a helicopter crash in Pennsylvania while filming footage for the state's digital television channel.

In 2005, cinematographer Neil Fredericks was killed in a plane crash off Florida while filming CrossBones, a low-budget horror film.

The film's director, pilot, and two other crew members managed to escape from the wreckage, but Fredericks was unable to free himself and drowned.

Back in 1986, assistant cameraman Bruce Ingram was killed and 7 others seriously injured while filming a car chase scene outside Tucson for "The Wraith." The accident occurred when the vehicle carrying the camera flipped over on a mountain road.

One of the most famous accidents during filming was the killing of cameraman Alexander Penrod and 26 members of the crew of the movie “The Viking” in 1931 off the coast of Newfoundland as a result of the accidental explosion of dynamite used to break the ice and the explosion of the ship carrying them, in an accident considered one of the deadliest. In the world of cinema even today.

Cinematography is no longer just carrying a camera and shooting the scenes determined by the director, but has become a real danger to the photographers and the entire camera team, and at the present time there are a lot of objectionable movements in Hollywood that are trying to secure the safety of the photographers and photographers, and preserve their lives as it happens for the action heroes of the actors celebrities.