Home video brings to life 1950s Birch Bay

A Vancouver, B.C., man brought to life his family’s 1950s film of Birch Bay’s amusement park.

The black-and-white footage, captured on 8-millimeter film, resurrects a five-minute scene of children enjoying the crowded amusement park rides. Hair scarves and classic vehicles show the era while added carnival sound effects provide background noise.

“My favorite part of creating videos is seeing and hearing the reactions of people who see them,” said Dustin Shea, who released the video late last November. “The older generations never had iPhones in their pockets so it’s pretty cool to be able to give them the opportunity to briefly experience their past memories through video.”

Shea said his grandmother gave him a few shoeboxes full of 8-millimeter film before she died in October. He’s slowly been going through the film and has posted eight videos on his YouTube account, Hollow Bamboo Entertainment. Shea, who attended Vancouver Film School, and his friend, Paul Kalkman, started creating the videos as a hobby, but hope to turn it into something bigger.

His family vacationed to Birch Bay at least once a summer in the mid-20th century as well as had homes on Salt Spring and Vancouver islands. Shea said his grandfather filmed the majority of the Birch Bay video and would pass the camera to other family members.

The Birch Bay video took about 10 hours to complete, Shea said. The film is scanned frame by frame, which requires trimming and removing damaged footage. Once digitized, the video is put through an AI enhancement program and sound is added.

Shea said he still needs to go through about half of the 2.5 hours of footage his grandmother passed down. Anyone with old VHS and 8-millimeter film can contact Shea at hollowbambooentertainment@gmail.com.