Earlier, thousands of extras decked out in the Rogues' black and gold cheered as some Steelers, including Ben Roethlisberger and Hines Ward, appeared, playing members of the Rogues. Bill Cowher returned, prowling the sidelines in his first coaching gig since leaving the Steelers after the 2006 season. Kevin Colbert, the Steelers' director of football operations, reunited with Cowher as an assistant coach for the Gotham Rogues.
Mayor Luke Ravenstahl dusted off his college skills, playing a kicker for the Rapid City Monuments, the Rogues' rivals. That may have been one of the reasons he was booed when a practice kick did not go well.
Ravenstahl, a 2003 graduate of Washington and Jefferson College, was a kicker there during his student days.
Fans were given gold hankies to wave at the on-screen action and, in keeping with gridiron tradition, the national anthem was sung.
On the kickoff, Ward received, blowing past the mayor as he returned the kick. That scene was repeated many times over about three hours, with the fans putting on the coats they had been instructed to bring to simulate the cold, then taking them off between takes to try to get relief from the muggy weather. Shortly after noon, the kickoff scene was done, and set-up began for the special-effects scene.
As expected, whole sections of extras were moved between shots so it would look as if the stadium were packed. In the filmmaking equivalent of the miracle of the loaves and fishes, there are two ways to make 10,000 or so extras look like 60,000: Film them and reproduce them digitally to fill in empty seats, or have them move so the background always appears robust and full.
