By Cleopatra Elshiekh and Nefertari Elshiekh, staff writers
Townsend Harris High School has their very own vlogging sensations—seniors Emily and Amanda Chu. They began vlogging in the fifth grade, and now their YouTube channel has almost 7,000 subscribers, with their videos getting thousands of views.
Emily was inspired by Elle and Blair Fowler, who were considered the original beauty gurus. Emily commented, “I looked up to Blair especially.”
Amanda began experimenting with makeup in middle school. She said, “I had no idea how to put on makeup, so I turned to YouTube to learn how to do things. Eventually I was like I should start making videos too.”
Since 2013, Emily and Amanda have posted over 80 videos on their YouTube channel Emily X Amanda, but didn’t start to post regularly until 2016.
Emily explained, “I began planning my uploads. If you saw the calendar and notes app on my Macbook you’d be overwhelmed. I uploaded 2-3 times a week. After putting in the effort, subscribers began to come quickly. I went from 600 subscribers to 6,000 in months.” In fact, Emily’s “What I Got for My 16th Birthday” video has almost 300K viewers.
Amanda mentioned that uploading videos more often made their channel more popular. “Our ‘Outfits of the Week’ videos were very consistent last year and the same people kept watching and commenting on them. It became like a series.”
Amanda turns to others vloggers for inspiration on how she should dye her hair or what makeup products she should use. She finds these videos the most helpful, so she likes to make her videos about this. “I like talking about my experiences and how I do things.”
Emily loves doing lookbooks. She said, “I feature my favorite outfits as a way to give viewers inspiration on what to wear for that season or occasion.”
Emily and Amanda both said that consistency is key for new vloggers. Amanda suggests, “Write some things down so you don’t ramble on and on in your videos. Also, find a topic that is interesting to you, and make sure your camera is focused before starting to film.”
While vlogging is a lot of fun, Emily also warns aspiring vloggers to, “Know that there will be negative comments. There was a time when my channel was growing exponentially, and I was honestly scared to refresh my notifications because there were so many negative comments on this one video I made. But I do believe I’m better at handling judgment now, and I’m really thankful for my friends and family who supported me.”
Emily and Amanda use a Canon T6i for sit down videos because “it has autofocus and a flip-out screen” as Emily described. For photos they use a Nikon D3300, which does not have a flip-out screen or autofocus, but takes better quality photos then the Canon. Emily also uses Final Cut Pro to edit her videos.
If you are a new vlogger and need inspiration or if you just want style advice, go check out Emily X Amanda on YouTube.
