THUNDER BAY – A Red Rock filmmaker with a passion for history is breathing new life into historic footage of what is now Thunder Bay.
Dee McCullay, who’s behind Thunderstryker Films, started by colourizing a more than century-old video that brings viewers into the heart of downtown Port Arthur.
The archival footage, believed to be from the early 1900s, follows a street car journey up what is now Red River Road towards Central School, currently home to Magnus Theatre.
Viewers will encounter cyclists, horse-drawn buggies, and an early automobile, along with other slices of turn-of-the-century life in the Lakehead.
McCullay sourced the footage from the Thunder Bay Vignettes videos produced by Dougall Media in the 1990s.
He added sound effects of trolleys and horses in an effort to immerse viewers in the scene.
McCullay used an AI-based process for the colourization, saying the technology has emerged only in the past two years or so.
Otherwise, he reported making minimal enhancements like light sharpening and grain removal.
In an interview, the filmmaker said he plans to continue colourizing more vintage film clips from the area, which will be shared on Thunderstryker’s Facebook page.
“I thought, you know, no one’s done this in our area with our old archival footage so I decided to do it, and it really took off,” he said.
He’s currently working on a 1923 video from the Nipigon area depicting a boat taking tourists out fishing.
The streetcar scene held a personal connection for McCullay, whose great-uncle was involved in getting the Port Arthur Street Railway up and running at the turn of the last century.
McCullay previously attracted attention for a 30-minute documentary about Sasquatch sightings in Northern Ontario, which he produced in 2017.
