A Word from Danny Belinkie, The Cinematographer

DANNY BELINKIE has been living and working as a cinematographer in Los Angeles for 4 years. He was born and raised in West Hartford, Connecticut, and is an Italian Studies graduate of Wesleyan University. He is very proud and honored to be working with the cast and crew of this documentary, and would like to give a special thanks to Roger Bridges for giving him a chance to photograph this story. For more information about Danny, check out www.dannybelinkie.com.

We were just about to wrap up for the day. We’d started by shooting an interview with

Gordon at his house in the morning, and then B-roll in Brentwood in the afternoon. We

had Gordon in the car, and were driving around the neighborhood, while he told stories

and pointed out his old haunts. Soon we had seen the house he grew up in, his old school,

even the old ice cream parlor he frequented as a kid. Eventually the sunlight improved,

so we decided to stop and get a couple of shots of Gordon walking and talking with

Roger... ...Great B-roll for the doc.

We sort of hesitated outside the car, while Roger and I tried to think of any good shots

we might have missed. Gordon waited patiently, a smile slowly creeping onto his

face. Eventually he offered up that there was a house right on that street where all his

friends used to hang out in high school, drink beer and smoke cigarettes. It felt like

an impromptu confession, like he himself had forgotten about this, and all of a sudden

those memories came flooding back to him. This must have been in the 1930s or 40’s,

and listening to him describe it, I couldn’t help but feel nostalgic for a time and place I

never even lived through, but felt like I knew because of the old movies I had seen. The

end of Hollywood’s golden age, when everything was cool as a cucumber... Nothing

but James Dean in a leather jacket or Humphrey Bogart, backlit perfectly, saying the

lines just right. Black and white film, jazz music, and gorgeous girls with spectacular

necklines. And right there in the middle of it was a young Gordon Hunt, sharing a

smoke with his friends after school, dreaming big just like the rest of us, wondering

where life would lead him.

I’m struck by something that actor Nolan North said during our interview with him. He

said that in an industry where inflated egos can occasionally get in the way, Gordon is a

man who cares only about the work, not trying to look good and always be “right”. He

doesn’t need to be the hero, and he doesn’t need to hear the praise. He just wants a

job well done. I aspire to be the same way, dedicated to the project at hand, and it’s

inspiring to see and hear about the example of Mr. Hunt. It’s been an honor working

on this project, getting to know some of Gordon’s friends and family, and of course the

man himself. And of course there’s that infectious smile; you know the one I’m talking

about...