Six: Tumblr picture with the words “when boys smile at you mysteriously.” Five, four, three…slow music in the background. Two…junior Ollie Costolloe on a couch stretching his face into a smile in a mock imitation of the lyrics. One…done.
While six seconds does not seem like a lot of time, Costolloe is able to manipulate that to create videos on the Vine app that leave people with smiles of their own. His efforts are reflected by his 38,000 followers. According to junior Miller Lepree, a friend of Costolloe’s who helps create Costolloe’s Vines, the inspiration to create these videos comes from innocent roots. “We just kind of do it to mess around and kill time. [We] just make random videos every once in a while,” Lepree said. While solving math problems or writing essays may require a deep state of concentration, Costolloe’s
videos require something much simpler: boredom. “I would be bored at home because I didn’t do a spring sport. I would just come up with an idea and make one and my friends thought it w as funny, so I kept doing them,” Costolloe said. “It’s kind of random.” While Costolloe now has thousands of followers, his videos were not originally popular. [su_pullquote]Follow Costolloe on Vine[/su_pullquote]“I didn’t really ever make them to try to get to a certain number of followers or anything. It was just for fun,” Costolloe said.
Even without trying to reach a certain number of followers, Lepree said that it is important to know your viewers. “You also think about who sees it,” Lepree said. “Because there’s like a very certain audience, I guess, that sees Ollie’s stuff. Like 12-year-old girls.” But these videos amuse more than middle school girls. They also succeed in, for example, making junior Julia Cotney laugh. “He does a lot of interesting, original videos,” Cotney said. “I enjoy watching them.” Costolloe’s family, friends and fellow Vine posters help him along the way.
“Sometimes I would think of an idea with a friend, and we would make one together. Or I would think of an idea with my brother and we would make it,” Costolloe said. “But a lot of the time, I would be on the app watching somebody else’s Vines and think, ‘Oh, well, I can do something like that’ and maybe get an idea from other people.”While there may not be a set goal in mind, Lepree said he enjoys having many followers watch the Vines.
“I guess it’s cool because a lot of people see his videos,” Lepree said, referring to Costolloe’s Vines. “I don’t know 38,000 people, so it’s cool to be able to say something that people will see.”
But according to Costolloe, the fun does not end with the creation and posting of the video. When a lot of people watch something, there will definitely be a lot to say.
“There’s some really creepy comments, too, sometimes, like creepy and funny and weird,” Costolloe said. “But it doesn’t really bother me. I think it’s fine.”
From something as mundane as boredom, Costolloe is able to create something that makes people smile.
Though the outcome may be big and popular, Costolloe says his process is something simple.
Costolloe said, “Usually, I just open up the camera and just go for it.”
Sarah Gladstone can be contacted at [email protected].
