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The goal of movies and TV series is to make scenes look realistic. When it comes to prop guns, they don't just look dangerous.

Such was the case in the death Thursday of Halyna Hutchins on the set of the movie Rust in New Mexico.

The 42-year-old director of photography died after actor Alec Baldwin discharged a prop gun, according to investigators.

READ MORE: Alec Baldwin says he's 'fully cooperating with police' after fatal shooting on Rust set

The film's director Joel Souza, 48, was also injured during the incident.

Prop master Joseph Fisher told CNN on Friday that extreme safety measures are taken when it comes to weapons on set.

"Typically we will do a safety brief with the cast and crew," he said.

"We'll let them examine it, we'll explain safety precautions that go with each type of prop weapon. In this case [the Rust incident], it was a blank firing weapon and with that there are inherent risks."

Mr Fisher mentioned the case of actor Brandon Lee who died in 1993 after a prop gun accident in which a fragment of a .44 bullet accidentally ended up lodged in the gun, which resulted Lee being wounded in the abdomen.

The prop master said even when there is no "bullet" in a prop gun, there are still projectiles, including gun powder and gas which can be dangerous within a certain range.

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Ben Simmons of Bare Arms, a company in the UK that works with firearms on sets, told CNN a variety of "prop guns" can be used in TV and film productions.

They range, he said, from "a completely fake firearm that's been constructed" from materials such as rubber or wood to an actual working gun or a formerly working gun that has been rendered inoperable.

Mr Simmons explained that the type of gun used depends on the production, but often guns that fire blanks are used on sets.

In a regular gun, a charge fires the projectile which is a bullet.

"Blanks" refer to a blank cartridge which usually consists of a shell or casing, gunpowder, but no bullet. Instead there is a tip that has has been "crimped" by wadding or wax, according to the "Handbook of Firearms and Ballistics."

"It doesn't mean the blank rounds are safe because if you were to get in the way of that or get too close to it, lots of dirt and debris can get thrown out the end of the gun, and that can cause harm," Mr Simmons said.

"It's extremely rare for it to happen and it's even rarer for it to cause death."

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Dave Brown, a professional firearms instructor and a firearms safety coordinator, wrote a piece for American Cinematographer magazine in 2019 in which he explained that "CGI [computer generated imagery] may be used for close-range gunshots that could not be safely achieved otherwise, but yes, even with all the advancements in visual effects and computer-generated imagery, we still fire guns with blanks."

"The reason is simple: We want the scene to look as real as possible. We want the story and characters to be believable," Mr Brown wrote.

"Blanks help contribute to the authenticity of a scene in ways that cannot be achieved in any other manner. If the cinematographer is there to paint a story with light and framing, firearms experts are there to enhance a story with drama and excitement."

The more gunpowder that is used, the bigger the flash and blast from a prop gun.

Mr Brown's piece reiterated that using blanks still requires someone on set who is experienced with firearms.

"Blanks expel gunpowder and hot gases out of the front of the barrel in a cone shape," he wrote. "This is harmless at longer ranges, but the explosion can seriously injure someone if it's too close."

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Daniel Oates, former police chief for Miami Beach, Florida, and Aurora, Colorado, told CNN that in policing "you treat every gun as if it's dangerous and it's loaded all the time."

And while prop guns on sets generally use blanks instead of live ammunition, Oates explained that they all use powder as a charge agent and wadding to create the noise and visual of an actual gun shot.

"Even at close range these weapons can be very, very dangerous," he said.

The Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office said the investigation into what happened on the set of Rust is "open and active" and no charges have been filed.

US authorities are investigating after confirming a prop firearm discharged by actor Alec Baldwin, while producing and starring in a western movie, killed the cinematographer and wounded the director.

Santa Fe County Sheriff's officials said Halyna Hutchins, cinematographer on the movie Rust, and director Joel Souza were shot today on the rustic film set in the desert on the southern outskirts of Santa Fe.

The prop firearm was discharged by actor and producer Baldwin, 63, according to the Santa Fe County Sherriff's Office.

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Hutchins was transported to the hospital via helicopter and pronounced dead by medical personnel at the University of New Mexico Hospital.

The other victim, 48-year-old director Souza, was transported to Christus St Vincent's Hospital by ambulance for care.

Details on his condition were not released.

A spokesperson for Baldwin said there was an accident on the set involving the misfire of a prop gun with blanks, though a charge without a metal projectile is unlikely to kill at a moderate distance.

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"According to investigators it appears that the scene being filmed involved the use of a prop firearm when it was discharged," a statement from authorities said.

"Detectives are investigating how and what type of projectile was discharged."

Police said the incident happened today at approximately 1.50pm local time (6.50am AEDT).

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Rust, from director Souza, is a western film set in the 1880s that stars Baldwin, Australian actor Travis Fimmel and Jensen Ackles.

Email requests for comment sent to the film's production company and a representative for Baldwin were not immediately returned.

The Sheriff's Office said the investigation "remains open and active" and no charges have been filed.

Baldwin posted a photo from the set just hours before the shooting, dressed in a western costume. It has since been deleted.

"Back to in person at the office, Blimey it's exhausting," he wrote.

According to Hutchins' website, she was originally from Ukraine and lived in Los Angeles.

She was named as one of American Cinematographer's rising stars of 2019 and described herself on Instagram as "Restless Dreamer. Adrenaline junkie."

She posted a video of herself on a horse two days ago, saying: "One of the perks of shooting a western is you get to ride horses on your day off."

She also recently shared photo of the film's cast and crew as well as photos of the film set.

The Santa Fe New Mexican reported Baldwin was seen outside the sheriff's office in tears, but attempts to get comment from him were unsuccessful.

The International Cinematographers Guild confirmed the woman fatally shot was Hutchins.

"The details are unclear at this moment, but we are working to learn more, and we support a full investigation into this tragic event," guild president John Lindley and executive director Rebecca Rhine said in a statement.

Hutchins, 42, was director of photography on the 2020 action film Archenemy, starring Joe Manganiello.

She was a 2015 graduate of the American Film Institute.

"I'm so sad about losing Halyna. And so infuriated that this could happen on a set," Archenemy director Adam Egypt Mortimer on Twitter.

"She was a brilliant talent who was absolutely committed to art and to film."

https://twitter.com/adamegypt/status/1451372384208887813?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Manganiello called her "an incredible talent" and "a great person" on his Instagram account.

Baldwin was a producer on Souza's 2019 film, Crown Vic, which starred Thomas Jane as a veteran Los Angeles police officer on a manhunt for two violent bank robbers.

Souza's first credited film, 2010's Hanna's Gold, was a treasure hunt adventure featuring Luke Perry.

Deputies responded about 2pm to the movie set at the Bonanza Creek Ranch after 911 calls came in of a person being shot on set, sheriff's spokesman Juan Rios said.

He said detectives were investigating how and what type of projectile was discharged.

"This investigation remains open and active," Mr Rios said in a statement.

"No charges have been filed in regard to this incident. Witnesses continue to be interviewed by detectives."

Rios said detectives were investigating how and what type of projectile was discharged.

Filming for Rust was set to continue into early November, according to a news release from the New Mexico Film Office.

The ranch has been used in dozens of films, including the recent Tom Hanks western News of the World.

The movie is about a 13-year-old boy who is left to fend for himself and his younger brother following the death of their parents in 1880s Kansas, according to the Internet Movie Database (IMDB) website.

The teen goes on the run with his long-estranged grandfather, played by Baldwin, after the boy is sentenced to hang for the accidental killing of a local rancher.

In 1993, Brandon Lee, 28, son of the late martial-arts star Bruce Lee, died after being hit by a .44-calibre slug while filming a death scene for the movie The Crow.

The gun was supposed to have fired a blank, but an autopsy turned up a bullet lodged near his spine.

A Twitter account run by Lee's sister Shannon said: "Our hearts go out to the family of Halyna Hutchins and to Joel Souza and all involved in the incident on 'Rust.' No one should ever be killed by a gun on a film set. Period."

https://twitter.com/brandonblee/status/1451401745419030531?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

In 1984, actor Jon-Erik Hexum died after shooting himself in the head with a prop gun blank while pretending to play Russian roulette with a .44 Magnum on the set of the television series Cover Up.

A young man has died after a bus and a car crash near Smithfield in Sydney's west.

Emergency services were called to the intersection of Warren Road and Liverpool-Parramatta Transitway where the driver of the car was trapped after the collision.

The 20-year-old driver of the car died at the scene.

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The 58-year-old bus driver escaped uninjured.

She was taken to Westmead Hospital for mandatory testing.

9News understands there were up to 10 passengers on board the bus at the time and none of them were injured.

Four ambulances and a specialist medical team responded to the crash.

NSW Ambulance said crews did not treat anyone as the man died at the scene.

Police have established a crime scene to determine how the crash occurred.

Anyone with information or dashcam footage is urged to contact police.

A second person has been charged over the alleged murder of a man stabbed to death at a caravan park on the New South Wales South Coast.

David McArthur was allegedly stabbed in the chest in a caravan park in Sanctuary Point on July 21. Paramedics tried to revive the 49-year-old but he died at the scene.

A 41-year-old man was arrested at a home in Nowra this morning as police executed a search warrant and seized clothing and a vehicle.

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He was taken to Nowra Police Station where he was charged with murder, police said.

The items seized today will undergo further forensic examination.

Today's arrest is the second in the case.

On Wednesday, detectives went to a correctional facility at Silverwater and a man was arrested and charged with murder.

He was remanded in custody and is due to appear at Nowra Local Court today.

Homicide Squad Detective Chief Inspector Wayne Walpole said he expects more people will be arrested.

"The investigation is ongoing, and we know there are other people involved in the murder of David," he said.

"We believe at least one, if not two, there could be others."

Last week, Mr McArthur's father spoke of the "incredibly tough" three months following his son's death.

"The last three months has been incredibly tough on our family – particularly because we still have no answers on how or why this happened to David," Stuart McArthur said.

"David was a proud Australian who loved life and was a generous man.

"He didn't deserve to die," the grieving father said.

Investigations under Strike Force Frawley continue.

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