A new beginning

Since 1991, audiences at the Carnegie Science Center's Rangos Omnimax Theater have begun their large-screen adventure with a four-minute slide and audio show describing the mechanics of the theater and Imax films.

This introduction was meant to be temporary-but at a cost of $100,000 per minute, creating a large-format preview film was beyond the reach of the new facility. Now thanks to funding from the Steel Industry Heritage Corporation and private donors, Carnegie Science Center will premiere a new eight-minute, $600,000 preview film on January 12. The film was written and directed by Pittsburgher Peter Argentine, based on a concept and visuals developed by CSC's Dennis Bateman and consultant Liz Swartz, who were "executive producers" as the film was conceived, shot, and edited. The film focuses on Pittsburgh's past as a steel center (footage was filmed in the Edgar Thompson and Irwin steel mills) and the city's transformation into a center of the high-tech industry. There's plenty of fabulous footage, including the Three Rivers Regatta, Kennywood Park, the Pittsburgh Zoo, Ohiopyle, and stunning shots of Downtown from unique air and ground vantage points.

"It's action-packed," says Liz Swartz. "There's a lot that goes on in that eight minutes." Swartz feels the film will be an asset to the science center and Pittsburgh. "It's the kind of movie people will want to come back to see again and again," she says. "It creates a sense of pride in the community and background about the city."