Sydney Marvin racks up TikTok followers

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)

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

On a mission to share her videographic been in the family for 90 years. craftsmanship with the McLean “My family has a deep archive of family student body and her more than 27,000 movies dating back to the 1930s. We have followers, Sydney Marvin is doing what she digitized those old movies over the years, loves. From traveling all over the country and I am hoping Sydney can someday to capturing intense shots in a basketball compress that footage into short highlights game, she is always working on her next for future generations,” Marvin’s dad said. project. After watching a video about a freelance

While her TikTok popularity has grown videographer during her sophomore year, rapidly in the last few months, this hobby Marvin realized that videography could be began at a relatively young age and has more than a pastime. Marvin’s passion for continued to develop ever since. videography suddenly transformed from a

Marvin’s interest in videography small hobby to a future dream career. began when she got a hold of her dad’s “I never realized people did this as a old camcorder to make short nature full-time job, so ever since I watched that documentaries using videos of trees and video I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, this is what squirrels outside. I want to do with my life,’” Marvin said. “It

“Sydney expressed a very early interest in inspired me to start pursuing it now instead videography. When she was in elementary of waiting until I grow up.” school, she and her sister would make short Once Marvin became more invested dramatic movies with our home video in her work, she started a freelance camera,” her dad, Tom Marvin, said. videography business when she was 16. She

She used iMovie and other apps to put commenced her work by reaching out to together clips to make videos from family local businesses and offering her services vacations. These videos were not the best for free to gain recognition, and she began quality, so she decided that it was time to doing brand deals and sports videography. save up for an actual camera. “Sydney has laser focus on the things

“When I first started making little she is passionate about. I really love how nature documentaries with my phone, they she sets personal goals, devises a plan to were really bad. Then when I really started meet them, and then executes every day pursuing videography, I decided it was time until she is successful,” her dad said. to get a real camera. I was broke, so I had Marvin makes most of her videos alone, to start working and save up for it,” Marvin but she occasionally features her sister, said. Hannah Marvin, in her videos and also has

Marvin’s videography hobby came from her model for pictures. her father, who gained his interest from his “I love being involved with what she family as well. Aspects of videography have makes. It’s fun to hang out with her and I

HORSES HIKE — Sydney Marvin sets up a shot at the end of a rainy hike. “The rain was so worth seeing horses on the trail, such a memorable hike,” she said. (Photo by Tom Marvin)

love being her model. I also get to post dope content afterwards,” Marvin’s sister said.

Beginning with a small audience of friends and family, Marvin was able to get feedback from them. The encouragement she received from them encouraged her to explore more social media platforms to widen her audience.

“I post most of my videography on Instagram, and all my friends and peers would comment with supportive comments, which helped me,” Marvin said.

Marvin recently switched from Instagram to the popular video-sharing social media platform TikTok. At first, TikTok was only a source of entertainment for her—she would watch videos but not create any of her own.

Considering that there are over 800 million users on TikTok, it’s difficult to get recognized. Marvin was able to quickly build her following by sharing her life and her passions with everyone.

“In quarantine, I got really bored so I started posting random stuff that I was doing throughout my days and I guess people liked that,” Marvin said.

TikTok has a feature called the “For You’’ page, a page containing popular videos made by users, that spreads videos to a larger audience. Getting on the “For You” page often results in a video getting thousands of likes and is the goal for aspiring TikTokers.

Marvin posted several videos about her daily routines and favorite places in Virginia, and she noticed that her account was gaining followers and her videos were growing in popularity. After seeing the amount of attention her videos were receiving, Marvin discovered her content was getting featured on the “For You” page.

I THINK THAT PHOTOGRAPHY AND VIDEOGRAPHY IS SUCH A FUN HOBBY, AND I’D LOVE TO INSPIRE PEOPLE TO GET INTO IT.” - SYDNEY MARVIN SENIOR

“I’ve never wanted a ton of followers, but I always thought the idea would be cool because of my videography,” Marvin said. “I’ve always wanted a place where I could put my videos, though, and have an audience to get feedback, which is really important to me.”

Over the summer, Marvin made videos about the activities she did outdoors, and these types of videos became her most popular posts. In addition to her videographic content, she posted more casual videos about her favorite recipes and activities.

“These past few months, I would post videos of hikes or adventures I went on in Virginia and those got pretty big; they got around 500,000 views,” Marvin said.

Now, Marvin has to plan her future. She has known that she wants to become a videographer for years, so her next step is to find the right place to pursue this dream.

“Sydney is passionate about videography and is looking for colleges that offer her the opportunity to focus in that space. While it is not always easy to pursue a career in the arts, we believe she should let her passion guide her way to success,” Marvin’s dad said.

Support from family members is crucial for Marvin’s growth and the development of her interests. She is lucky that she has support from not only her family and friends, but also from thousands of people on TikTok.

“Feedback is really important to me, I am always interested in what people have to say about the videos I create,” Marvin said.

As Marvin’s TikTok account continues to grow, she hopes to become an inspiration for her followers.

“I’d like to inspire people to get outside and to do things that make them happy,” Marvin said. “I think that photography and videography is such a fun hobby and I’d love to inspire people to get into it.”