It was a very Delco day on the set of ‘Delco: The Movie’

While filming a pivotal scene in Delco: The Movie at the Springfield Presbyterian Church on Tuesday, director Chris Pierdomenico asked the extras in the pews — many of whom donated to a crowdfunding campaign to be in the scene — not to applaud so he could get good audio of the dialogue.

They clapped anyway. Twice.

Delco never did take directions or temper its excitement well. It’s part of its charm.

It’s also a theme of Pierdomenico’s film, which is about three high school seniors in 2004 who decide to live a day “the Delco way,” and “jump first, ask questions later.”

Before production got underway in November, the independent movie generated buzz with a crowdfunding campaign that leaned heavily into Delco nostalgia and offered donors a chance to be in a scene with the film’s three big names: Brian O’Halloran, who plays Dante Hicks in the Clerks franchise; Philly native Brian Anthony Wilson, who played Det. Vernon Holley on The Wire; and Brian Dunkleman, who cohosted the first season of American Idol.

All three were on set Tuesday for the movie’s big scene, in which O’Halloran’s character, pastor Joel Powers, gives his son, Wayne, the opportunity to deliver a sermon about “purity.” It does not go as planned. I don’t want to give too much away, but the words “drunk,” “shat,” and “jail” (in that order) come out of Wayne’s mouth at the pulpit.

“I don’t want to die in Delco!” he confesses to the congregation.

After an ensuing kerfuffle and awkward moment of silence, one of the lead characters, played by Philly actor Jenna Kuerzi, shouts “Go Birds!” and several people in the pews quietly respond with a “Go Birds!” in kind, like it’s a Delco amen.

I couldn’t help but notice that, according to the crew member working the clapperboard, this — the movie’s biggest scene, the one set in a church — was scene 69. Coincidence or Delco kismet?

During a break in shooting, when it was announced that “wooder and hoagies” from Ro-Lynn Deli in Brookhaven would be supplied for lunch, one of the extras took it upon himself to school any out-of-town cast and crew.

“Don’t say sub around here!” he shouted from the pews.

In turn, O’Halloran taught the extras about some filmmaking terms the crew was using, like “wild line,” a line of dialogue repeated over and over by an actor, and “room tone,” the sound of silence recorded in a room.

Many of the extras in the pews were obviously excited to be around O’Halloran.

“You’re honorarily Delco Dante now!” Chester Township resident Bill Buddle yelled from the first pew.

“I’m not even supposed to be here today!” another extra shouted from the back, quoting one of O’Halloran’s iconic lines from Clerks.

During lunch, musician Paul Marturano, a Delco native who plays a church pianist in the film, performed his original song “Delco Girl” for the cast and crew on the church lawn. Marturano wrote the song a couple years ago and when he heard about Pierdomenico’s movie, he offered it for use in the film.

As the extras ate their free hoagies and danced in the parking lot, Marturano sang:

“Up in Bucks them girls are pretty. Out in Montgomery those girls sure love their fellows. Philly does its part, but the girl that steals your heart, she’s from Delco. And there’s one thing you got to know — a Delco girl don’t take it slow.”

O’Halloran, who came out to the parking lot to chat with the cast and crew, was kind, gracious, and happy to take photos with the many fans who asked.

“It’s great to see the community come out and help this film,” he said. “You need to get a community to rally around something like this going on.”

Pierdomenico said that’s exactly what Delco has done. The film initially raised more than $59,000 through crowdfunding, but that money was gone after six days of filming last year. Pierdomenico — who is the film’s writer, director, producer, and editor — had to halt the production until he could raise more.

He was able to rally Delco businesses to become sponsors and reached a total budget of $90,000, allowing him to complete filming over four days this spring.

“The Delco community came together,” he said.

Local filming locations aside from the church include Tom Jones Family Restaurant, Wawa, the Delco Shack, and the Brookhaven Police Department. But Pierdomenico said the most Delco moment of filming so far took place Monday, while the cast and crew were at a house in Drexel Hill.

“There was a woman that was looking for her cat, her inside cat got out, so she was meowing around the neighborhood while we were trying film,” he said. “It was hard to keep a straight face.”

Pierdomenico plans to release Delco: The Movie later this year on Amazon Prime and hold a premiere at a local theater.

“It’s pretty surreal,” he said. “I think my 17-year-old self would be excited.”