He is one in a new breed of vloggers – young, witty, entertaining – who are always ready to say their piece of mind in the big stage that is the social media.
YouTube is their channel. All it takes is a basic SLR cam, an external mic, a lot of imagination, and yes a lot of guts.
For 18-year old Emmanuel ‘Eman’ Mazo, he’s just having fun and the satisfaction of sharing his thoughts on just about anything.
“What made me want to start making videos was actually back when I was like 10 years old and randomly came upon a video titled ‘How To Be Ninja’ by a YouTuber, Ryan Higa,” he tells AK.
“When I first saw this video, I was immediately hooked and thought to myself ‘I want to do what this guy is doing!’ because it was just something new to me at the time, and it was hilarious!”
To those unfamiliar with the vlog world, Ryan Higa is the Jap-American YouTube sensation who’s already a sort of a cultural demigod (ask your kids – they may know him).
Born in the Philippines, Emmanuel grew up in St. Marys and only recently made his move to settle in Melbourne.
He’s got a string of videos on YouTube on diverse subjects showing his dig on bad drivers (‘Types of Bad Drivers’), buying stuff, twerking or trying on make-up or high heels (‘7-Second Challenge’) and much more. So far he’s uploaded a total of 17 videos.
“I actually used to be really active as a YouTuber for gaming, but that was when I was 12. It depends on how I’m feeling or what’s going on through my mind at the time,” he says.
“I keep my ideas and expand on it. I only post videos if I think it’s worth the upload.”
Still it isn’t just about shooting oneself (with the cam). Apart from shooting it right and saying it right, Eman got skills in video editing too. He has a passion for the camera and he did some studies in a Bachelor of Film course at the SAE in Sydney. He’s off school now since he moved out of state.
Blogging for video can be tough especially if one wants to maintain quality.
A vlog (or video blog) is a blog that contains video content. The small, but growing, segment of the blogosphere devoted to vlogs is sometimes referred to as the vlogosphere – urbandictionary.com
“It’s something you need to really keep grinding and working hard on, but also something I love doing. I’ve had some friends and relatives ask me ‘why I’m suddenly posting videos on YouTube’ but I guess they’re just unaware of my history with YouTube. Nobody’s really teased me about it and I’m thankful that I’ve got the support from friends and family.
“Honestly, I’m actually a shy guy. Talking in front of the camera is certainly awkward at first, but I’m growing to get used to it.”
So far Eman has already over 100 subscribers in his channel. Will his video go viral someday?
It seems he doesn’t really mind, he’s doing it not to become a Higa but just becoming Eman. It’s one of the realities that vloggers know – the whole thing is more than just about expressing oneself, it is about being oneself.
“I’m just happy I’m finally doing something I love. I plan to continue just doing ‘ME’ and whatever happens, happens!”
So yeah!
[See Emmanuel Mazo on YouTube; Instagram: https://instagram.com/e.mazo/; Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/mahzo]
