Locals Loving "Pittsburgh The Movie"
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- There is something about Pittsburgh roots that run deep and through them flow a pride that can rival any city or region in the world.
Against that backdrop a new short film appearing on YouTube is hooking the hearts of Pittsburghers.
Over the years this community has appeared on the big screen as itself and as a stand in for cities all over the world.
From more recent offerings like "Jack Reacher" where there was no effort to mask the city's identity, to "Dark Knight Rises" where the city became Gotham City – Pittsburghers know their city when they see it.
For Mt. Lebanon native Aron Zelkonwicz who had grown up seeing his town on the big screen it recently became a challenge to gather Pittsburgh scenes from 29 films and compile them into a music video.
"I thought it would be fun," he said. "I had seen all these movies filmed in Pittsburgh and thought why not take the parts everyone wants to see, the shots of Pittsburgh, and put those together."
For weeks Zelkonwicz search and compiled the clips and says with a smile, "I think it speaks to my compulsive personality, the want to categorize and compile a film like that."
Now you should know that this 39-year-old, who now lives in Downtown Pittsburgh, taught himself how to do video editing on his laptop and is a cellist by trade.
He worked the film work in between rehearsals and performances with the Pittsburgh Symphony.
The music is a piece from the "Pirates of the Caribbean" soundtrack and has not been altered.
That was part of the challenge for this professional musician because the music, "has changes in mood and tempo and dynamics and I wanted to find clips that suited that."
The resulting almost six-minute-long video was described by Pittsburgh Film Office director Dawn Keezer today as, "Amazing. I think he's incredibly talented and I love how he tied all 29 of those movies together to showcase what we sell about Pittsburgh and Southwestern Pennsylvania."
Keezer likes to say Pittsburgh can double for anywhere as long as you don't need a beach or desert and feels "Pittsburgh- The Movie" captures that flexibility.
For those born and raised in this town, it's just a lot of fun to watch.
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