The video footage of Washington D.C. that appears in “Beyond Babylon” is Hi-8 footage
shot by Dennis Davis during family visits to Washington, DC during the 1990s.
This footage enabled filmmakers Christie Davis and Dennis Davis to use Washington,
DC footage that is both memorable and a lot cheaper than the stock/newsreel
footage.
The White House was shot from the roof of the Hay Adams hotel where Christie,
Dennis and their son Jordan were attending the wedding reception of Christie’s
sister, Becky Broers Quinn. To get the same shot today would be impossible—
barriers mar the view of the White House and the Secret Service would probably
arrest someone aiming a camera at the White House.
During another family trip, a night-time car tour around town with Christie’s other
sister, Nancy Broers, a resident of Capitol Hill, enabled Dennis to shoot the traveling
night shots of the Washington Monument, Jefferson Memorial and Capital Hill from the
passenger seat of the car.
A visit to the Vietnam Wall became a poignant family and personal journey into the
past. Dennis’ cousin from Conemaugh, PA, John Larry Davis, Lance Corporal,
Marine Corps, was killed in Vietnam on April 21, 1967. He was twenty-one years old.
As a young boy, Dennis remembers going with his family to the funeral. In “Beyond
Babylon,” the shot of a young boy’s hand on the wall is our son Jordan touching Larry’
s name.
