Pittsburgh and the Dark Knight take the big screen

“The Dark Knight Rises”

Directed by: Christopher Nolan

Starring: Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Anne Hathaway

In theaters: July 20

The St. Paul Cathedral on Dithridge Street has been the backdrop for plenty of mundane walks to class.

But on July 20, the cathedral and a number of other recognizable Pittsburgh buildings will become the scenery behind one of the most anticipated films of the decade. The third and final installment of The Dark Knight trilogy, “The Dark Knight Rises,” was filmed at several locations in the city for the majority of last summer — with a few scenes even opened up to locals who wanted to participate in the production as extras. And while the city of Pittsburgh is no stranger to major film productions, something about the end of the historic Dark Knight trilogy adds a new element of excitement to the celebrity.

At the conclusion of the previous “Dark Knight” movie, Gotham City falls to shambles and is in need of recovery from a gruesome run-in with the Joker and his clowns, who ravaged the city. In a fateful sequence of events, Rachel Dawes is murdered, and the city’s district attorney and resident White Knight, Harvey Dent, falls from his horse to become the villain Two-Face.

After dispensing with the Joker, Batman has to kill Two-Face to rescue the newly appointed Commissioner Gordon and his family. To save Dent’s reputation, the Dark Knight ultimately takes the blame for the villain’s errors.

“The Dark Knight Rises” picks up eight years later in a Batman-less Gotham. The villain Bane comes to take control of the city, forcing Batman to reassume his role as “the hero Gotham deserves.” He dons his mask and sets out to fight crime with an arsenal of new gadgets, many of which graced Pittsburgh’s streets last summer.

Probably the most recognizable landmark for Pittsburghers in this new movie will be the home field of the Gotham Rogues. To film the fictional football team’s scene, thousands of extras packed into Heinz Field, fully decked-out in Steelers gear and whipping Terrible Towels above their heads.

In the upcoming film’s trailer, the crowded Heinz Field can be seen undergoing CGI-fueled destruction as Hines Ward runs for his life — football still tucked beneath his arm, of course.

According to Susan Zimecki, the Marketing Director at Carnegie Science Center, the scene at Heinz Field was reminiscent of a Steelers home game — except considerably off season.

“It really was something to see these thousands of people pack Heinz field in coats in the middle of summer,” Zimecki said.

As a resident of the region, witnessing Heinz field receive the Hollywood treatment proved to be an incredible experience for Pitt junior Joe Thomas, who geared up in black and yellow to represent the Gotham Rogues for the filming.

“One of the most surreal things that happened was when Hines Ward at one point exited a tunnel onto the field laying down on the Batmobile,” Thomas said.

The Pitt student said he’s been a fan of Batman since he was a kid, so getting to be on set at Heinz Field was a special experience.

“It was amazing to be a part of something that I had been a fan of for so many years. I went with my friends from high school, and we were in the hot sun wearing coats all day, but it was totally worth it,” he said.

Thomas wasn’t the only Pitt student who took part in the film. Graduate student Samuel Su was selected to portray one of Bane’s mercenaries in the film.

“Since I have martial arts experience, I got to be in one of the fight scenes. I got pretty close to Batman, which was cool,” Su said.

Oakland also transformed into a portion of cold Gotham City when Batman, Bane and a group of cons gathered outside of Mellon Institute on Fifth Avenue for the film’s production. The building served as Gotham’s City Hall while an intense fight scene took place outside.

During the filming, groups of onlookers flocked to the corner of Fifth and Bellefield avenues, desperately searching for Batman’s black suit among a swarm of actors.

Elaborate camouflage cars sat at the end of North Craig Street, blocking Fifth Avenue through Bellefield Avenue for the week of filming. In that small area, onlookers could catch a few brief glances of the film’s production, which was heavily guarded by security and production assistants at every entrance.

But Heinz Field and Mellon Institute were not the only set locations in the city. “The Dark Knight Rises” will feature many other recognizable sights for Pittsburgh inhabitants.

Brady Lewis, the director of education at Pittsburgh Filmmakers, said the city has both commercial and residential areas that work well for filming.

“There are a lot of things that Pittsburgh offers. And it’s still not an overexposed city in movies. It hasn’t been used so much that the look is tired and people think they’ve seen it all before,” Lewis said in an interview last year.

Just up the street from Heinz Field, Carnegie Science Center’s Omnimax projector will provide screenings of the finished movie the same way the film crew previewed every day’s footage.

According to Zimecki, Christian Bale, who has been playing the masked crusader since the trilogy got its start in 2005, called the Omnimax screening a much better way to experience the film than digitally. The production crew agreed, and at the end of every day of filming, the screen was used to review the results of the day’s filming.

From July 20 to Aug. 19, the Carnegie Science Center will be screening the film on the wrap-around Omnimax projector. Tickets are $12 for adults and $11 for Carnegie Museum members.

Not only will this give Pittsburghers the chance to see a favorite action hero battling villains, they’ll also get to experience their city on the big screen.