LIFE THROUGH A LENS Senior Sydney Marvin promotes her videography talents to her 27,000+ TikTok followers GIANNA RUSSO COPY EDITOR BELEN BALLARD ONLINE FEATURES EDITOR
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DEEP DUSK — Senior Sydney Marvin took this picture of her sister Hannah at sunset. “I brought my camera into the water with me, which was super scary, but I ended up with this shot so I think it was worth it,” Marvin said. (Photo by Sydney Marvin)
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n a mission to share her videographic craftsmanship with the McLean student body and her more than 27,000 followers, Sydney Marvin is doing what she loves. From traveling all over the country to capturing intense shots in a basketball game, she is always working on her next project. While her TikTok popularity has grown rapidly in the last few months, this hobby began at a relatively young age and has continued to develop ever since. Marvin’s interest in videography began when she got a hold of her dad’s old camcorder to make short nature documentaries using videos of trees and squirrels outside. “Sydney expressed a very early interest in videography. When she was in elementary school, she and her sister would make short dramatic movies with our home video camera,” her dad, Tom Marvin, said. She used iMovie and other apps to put together clips to make videos from family vacations. These videos were not the best quality, so she decided that it was time to save up for an actual camera. “When I first started making little nature documentaries with my phone, they were really bad. Then when I really started pursuing videography, I decided it was time to get a real camera. I was broke, so I had to start working and save up for it,” Marvin said. Marvin’s videography hobby came from her father, who gained his interest from his family as well. Aspects of videography have
been in the family for 90 years. “My family has a deep archive of family movies dating back to the 1930s. We have digitized those old movies over the years, and I am hoping Sydney can someday compress that footage into short highlights for future generations,” Marvin’s dad said. After watching a video about a freelance videographer during her sophomore year, Marvin realized that videography could be more than a pastime. Marvin’s passion for videography suddenly transformed from a small hobby to a future dream career. “I never realized people did this as a full-time job, so ever since I watched that video I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, this is what I want to do with my life,’” Marvin said. “It inspired me to start pursuing it now instead of waiting until I grow up.” Once Marvin became more invested in her work, she started a freelance videography business when she was 16. She commenced her work by reaching out to local businesses and offering her services for free to gain recognition, and she began doing brand deals and sports videography. “Sydney has laser focus on the things she is passionate about. I really love how she sets personal goals, devises a plan to meet them, and then executes every day until she is successful,” her dad said. Marvin makes most of her videos alone, but she occasionally features her sister, Hannah Marvin, in her videos and also has her model for pictures. “I love being involved with what she makes. It’s fun to hang out with her and I Page design by Ariana Elahi
