Campus gets onboard with 'Express'

June 22 was a day of firsts and lasts.

It was the first time a major motion picture was filmed on the Syracuse University campus. And it was the last of a 52-day shoot for the Universal Pictures movie "The Express" about the late Ernie Davis.

"This story will go beyond all the other sports stories," said SU Director of Athletics Daryl Gross.

In 1959, just five years after the Supreme Court of the United States ruled "separate but equal" to be unjust, Davis, an African American, donned No. 44 as an SU varsity football running back. He played with the Orangemen for three years.

In 1961, he became the first black athlete as well as the first and only SU player to win the Heisman Trophy. Davis was slated to play professionally with the Cleveland Browns but developed leukemia in 1962 and died in 1963. He was 23 years old.

On the day of the filming, SU's Quad was filled with girls in plaid skirts, boys in varsity letter jackets and cameramen galore. At the center of the mayhem was the actor portraying Davis: Rob Brown.

In 2000, Brown rose into the Hollywood stratosphere with a leading role in "Finding Forrester" opposite Sean Connery. Despite similarities with Davis in heritage, age and interests - Brown played varsity football at Amherst College - Brown admitted knowing little about Davis before he first read the script. But now that he knows Davis' story, Brown says his goal is to share it with other people.

"People should know who Ernie Davis is and the impact he had," Brown said between takes under a cloudy sky that threatened of rain. "We touch on racism in the film. It's 2007 now, but it still exists. It's always cool to get people thinking again."

The producers and crew shared Brown's sentiments.

"Everyone felt very passionately that this story needed to be told and needed to be told accurately," said Production Designer Nelson Coates. While most of the scenes were filmed in Chicago, including Northwestern University's Ryan Field as the old Archbold Stadium, Coates and Executive Producer Derek Dauchy were insistent that some filming be done on location in Syracuse.

"We wanted as much authenticity as possible," Dauchy said. "It's such an iconic front row here at campus. The architecture is amazing."

In the early afternoon, one of the five scenes scheduled to be filmed was shot in front of Carnegie Library. The camera was filming Davis' point of view as he walks toward the library and groups of white students stare and sneer at him.

"Davis is a freshman on campus, and the student body is unwelcoming," explained Dustin Bowman, 24. Bowman, a Canton resident, was one of 50 people chosen to be an extra in the movie.

More than 1,200 SU students and central New York residents applied for the compensated position, according to a member of the production team.

At 2 p.m., after countless takes in front of Carnegie, the extras were dismissed for a half-hour lunch break. A crew member patted Bowman on the back as he walked by. He told Bowman that his close up would definitely make it into the film. Bowman answered with an excited smile, but the fact that he had been there since 5 a.m. was showing as he headed to the trailers for lunch.

Meghan Lisson, another extra, was tired from pushing a bicycle around and around a tree while the crew filmed the scene from all angles, but her excitement squashed any possible yawns.

"It's so much fun," she said, running on adrenaline.

In the fall, Lisson will begin her third year of studies at SU as a broadcast journalism and political science dual-major. Although she has seen herself on TV before as a reporter, she said she cannot wait to see herself on the big screen.

"I'm going to be in a movie!" she said with a squeal.

A member of the production team announced on June 22 that Universal Pictures and Producer John Davis are considering holding the premiere of "The Express" in Syracuse, at either the Carrier Dome or the Landmark Theatre downtown. The movie is scheduled to be released Oct. 10, 2008.