Senior’s Christmas Countdown Goes Viral

Gwyn Newcomb’s reintroduction of Vlogmas excites students

Harper Crater, Head Sports Editor

Gwyn Newcomb, an aspiring film director who can often be spotted wearing sunglasses indoors while carrying a video camera through the halls, has experienced a recent spike in popularity due to the start of her countdown to Christmas tradition; Vlogmas. This is Newcomb’s second holiday season doing Vlogmas.

“I decided to do Vlogmas because I knew it would be a challenge for me creatively,” Newcomb said. “And I knew that I wanted to put out new content that my audience would enjoy.”

Due to the amount of footage Newcomb records for each vlog, Vlogmas requires an enormous amount of dedication.

“I’m impressed with number of followers she has and editing vlogs takes a great deal of time so I’m impressed she’s put the amount of time into it and has stuck with it,” Film Analysis teacher Shelly Norden said.

Norden started teaching Newcomb her junior year, and Newcomb is currently enrolled in an Independent Study of Film with Norden as her advisor.

“We focused on getting her college portfolio together and doing community projects,” Norden said. “She did a commercial for the Chumley’s business and is currently working on something for organ donation about Rutger Scott, who graduated in 2018.”

Newcomb’s YouTube currently has 144 subscribers and averages around 120 views per vlog. Her most popular Vlogmas video is “VLOGMAS DAY 4 w/ Shelly” featuring other students in Norden’s classes and Norden herself with 240 views as of Dec. 12.

“I am a subscriber and I have been featured in the “school on fire!?” episode when I was participating in the fire drill,” long time friend of Newcomb’s senior Katie O’Connor said. “I love Vlogmas because it is so funny to watch a recap of the day through the eyes of Gwyn Newcomb.”

Newcomb’s tradition has become an something students look forward to throughout their day.

“I subscribed to Gwyn’s YouTube channel and my favorite part of Vlogmas is Amy,” senior Anna Cottrell said. “I’ve been featured on Vlogmas during the second episode and I love Vlogmas because I love Gwyn, she puts up some really funny content.”

Students aspire to be featured on Newcomb’s channel and are increasingly seeking Newcomb out to be featured in the “Question of the Day” portion of the vlog.

“I subscribed [to Gwyn’s channel]. My favorite part is Amy for sure!” senior Christine Babish said. “I haven’t been featured yet but I like it because it’s funny and it’s fun seeing everyone in the vlog.”

Newcomb comes up with all of her own content.

“The questions of the day come from what I think would make a great title or thumb nail,” Newcomb said. “The topics themselves are determined through the day with whatever footage I capture and find is good in editing.”

Newcomb’s family is a staple of the daily vlog. Her mom, Amy Newcomb, is often featured doing every day tasks such as loading the dishwasher or, as in “VLOGMAS DAY 11 w/ some magic” sitting in the waiting room of a doctor’s office. Amy has not one but two vlogs dedicated to her — “VLOGMAS DAY 1 w/ amy” and “VLOGMAS DAY 8 w/ an Amy take over”.

Newcomb’s younger sister, Gabby Newcomb, is also a Vlogmas staple.

“It’s super fun having a camera follow me around the house but can be tough at times to always be authentic,” the youngest Newcomb said. “I definitely love Vlogmas because I like to see how it pushes Gwyn to strive for her goals. My favorite part of Vlogmas is the countdown, it really helps me get into the Christmas spirit.”

Though Newcomb enjoys her Christmas tradition, there are some struggles that come with posting a video each night.

“By far the biggest challenge when filming and editing is making sure I’m creative,” Newcomb said. “I have run into a lot of repetitiveness that I personally can find boring, so finding new ways to do the same things has been a challenge.”

Watch out for Gwyn Newcomb, it’s possible hers will be the next big name in Hollywood. If you haven’t already, subscribe to Newcomb’s YouTube channel. Newcomb has also released a line of stickers which read, “Subscribe @ Gwyn Newcomb on YouTube”. The deal is two stickers for $1, find Gwyn Newcomb to purchase.