The field here at Frisco ISD’s Kuykendall Stadium hasn’t seen game action in months.
But the biggest game of the NFL season kicks off in less than 36 hours.
Most people will tune in for the action of the game, some for the commercials, and others for the halftime performance.
But this year some won’t tune in at all.
And it’s all because of one person: Taylor Swift.
On Sept. 24, 2023 Taylor Swift made her first appearance at a Kansas City Chiefs game helping to make public her relationship with one of the stars on the Chiefs, Travis Kelce.
What turned into then a one-time appearance went on to her attending 11 more games.
Since then many fans have expressed their opinions of Swift attending the games; many claiming that she’s “ruining football”.
One of the many complaints is that the networks keep showing Swift, or that they keep cutting to her, but according to a New York Times article, the reality is Swift is onscreen for less than 25 seconds over the three-hour broadcast.
But while screen time isn’t the only issue for some people, many NFL fans are claiming that Taylor is acting up for the cameras.
But in reality that isn’t the case.
As a camera operator myself, our job is to tell the story that the director and producer want us to tell.
Whether that’s getting a close-up of an offensive lineman after a false start, a clip of the head coach in a high-pressure scenario, or getting the same fan over and over again.
So, when Travis Kelce gets a big gain or a nice catch or touchdown, it only makes sense to show one of his biggest supporters, Taylor Swift.
You’ve seen just how far away the camera is, and Swift even knows it too, claiming in her interview with Time magazine: “I don’t know how they know what suite I’m in. There’s a camera, like, a half-mile away, and you don’t know where it is, and you have no idea when the camera is putting you in the broadcast, so I don’t know if I’m being shown 17 times or once.”
Once a camera finds Swift’s suite that one camera is tasked to having a shot of her when Kelce makes a big play or scores a touchdown.
Then it’s up to the director, producer, or network executive to make the decision when to cut to her.
The reality is Swift has no control over when or how long she is on camera, so when people say she is “acting up” for the camera, it’s really her being her.
