Red carpet rolled out for screening of movie filmed at Westminster College

Jan. 6—HERMITAGE — About a year ago, Westminster College's snow-covered campus served as a filming location for the Netflix thriller, "The Pale Blue Eye."

Although intended for streaming with a limited theatrical release, "The Pale Blue Eye" received a special red-carpet premiere Thursday evening at Shenango Valley Cinemas in Hermitage — complete with music, paparazzi and popcorn.

Among the "paparazzi" taking photographs was Westminster College junior Alex Marinski, who was not only going to be in the audience but on the screen as well, along with about 20 or 30 other students who served as extras in the film.

"It was seriously a big deal on campus when they were filming," Marinski said.

The film, based on the 2003 novel of the same name by Louis Bayard, is a gothic thriller set in 1830. Actor Christian Bale plays a veteran detective investigating a series of murders, while Harry Melling plays author Edgar Allan Poe, according to a press release.

Since Westminster College served as a stand-in for West Point Academy, Marinski and dozens of other students had the opportunity to portray the academy's cadets.

The role involved a couple days at Robert Morris University near Pittsburgh, where the extras received training on how to march and drill like soldiers. The cadets then filmed scenes at Westminster College and a few other locations in the area, Marinski said.

The cadets even had the chance to see some of the film's stars, such as Bale or Timothy Spall.

"He used to say 'hi' and talk to us a little bit, since we were all out there in the cold and the snow with him filming the scenes," Marinski said of Bale.

Jace Armentrout — who works in Westminster's admissions office — may not appear in the final film, but he was among those who served as stand-ins while the film crew prepared different shots, such as adjusting camera angles or lighting.

Each stand-in was assigned a particular actor to represent, with Armentrout standing-in for actor Harry Lawtey for about two weeks.

Armentrout joked the stand-ins were always "kicked out" when it came time for the real actors to begin filming, but said it was still an enlightening process to see how much work goes into something like framing a shot, or making sure background details were always in-sync.

"They had to replace the candles after every take," Armentrout said.

Those scenes involving Armentrout took place near the film's climax, giving him some idea of the movie's resolution.

However, Armentrout said he hasn't read the film's source novel and only had a general understanding of the film's setup, giving him an unusual perspective going into the film's premiere Thursday evening.

"I have an idea of how it's going to end, but I don't know what the beginning of the movie is or how it gets there," Armentrout said.

Marinski and Armentrout were only a couple of the many guests at the premiere, which was open to Westminster College students, alumni, faculty and parents, said Jamie Offutt, college constituent engagement coordinator.

There were originally 220 spots open for the premiere, which filled up within a couple days, she said.

"So far it's been fabulous, everybody seems really excited," Offutt said of the attendees.

Jean Hale, vice president for institutional advancement at Westminster College, said the premiere came about through a collaboration between Netflix and Golden Star Theaters, the parent company of Shenango Valley Cinemas.

Throughout the filming of "The Pale Blue Eye," Hale said film crews worked to transform Westminster College into a 1830s-era campus — an intensive process the involved everything from replacing signs to covering the concrete sidewalks with dirt and mulch.

Meanwhile, about 100 of Westminster College's students were involved in the film in some capacity, while others had to carry on their education around the film production.

"It was a little bit of a disruption for students, but I think they took everything in stride and were really excited about it," Hale said of the filming process.

Hale also credited Kenneth Romig, the college's vice president for finance and management services, for juggling the various needs of the film crew on top of his regular duties for the college.

Those needs ranged from parking and catering to managing animals that were used in the production, Romig said.

"It was definitely eye-opening to see all of those moving pieces, because there was a lot of people involved in making this movie," Romig said.

Although Netflix first approached Westminster College, along with a few other locations, because the film needed an older campus with stone buildings in the Pittsburgh area, Romig said the college's students became an important part of the film process.

While some students worked as extras or stand-ins, other students had the chance to work on other aspects such as film production alongside the crew, which helped the campus become much more than just a setting for the film, Romig said.

"I think the students really enjoyed the experience, because they could participate and be a part of it," Romig said.

Marinski, who is majoring in strategic communication and social media, said he enjoyed the experience of being part of the film making process, and was interested in possibly pursuing future projects looking for extras in the Pittsburgh area.

"The PAs who worked with us were really great, and they even told us to look out for other movies that might need background people," Marinski said of the film's production assistants.

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