Kiss cam
The kiss cam (literally "kiss camera") is a form of entertainment in which people in an audience are asked to kiss . It is mainly known in the USA and Canada and takes place during breaks or interruptions in sporting events that are held in halls , arenas or stadiums . The aim is to keep the audience happy and to bridge the time until the game continues.
procedure
The prerequisite for using the Kiss Cam is the presence of several cameras, a picture control system and one or more large and easily visible screens, which are often referred to as jumbotron in American English , even though this is a registered trademark. In sporting breaks ( downtime , timeouts, etc.) commercial breaks, or other game breaks occasionally the Kiss Cam was used, and the audience is "forewarned" mostly by an announcement of the stadium or hall speaker, which also attracted the attention of people present on the video wall should be directed.
The Kiss Cam "scans" (in the form of several cameras) the audience and selects a couple (usually a man and a woman) who are then shown on the large screens and thus invited to kiss. A contemporary love song is often heard , which is also intended to create a suitable atmosphere. After the couple has recognized themselves on one of the screens, they kiss, and the rest of the audience cheers them on with cheers, whistles or applause . On the other hand, if the couple refuses to kiss, they will often be booed .
After the kiss has taken place or has been refused, the next couple appears on the screens, with their heads usually framed in a heart shape to set the Kiss Cam apart from the normal game and to additionally stage the kiss. While a couple can be seen on the screens, a second cameraman is busy selecting two other people from the audience at random, pairing them up and visually preparing them so that after the first couple has kissed or refused the kiss, can be cross- faded directly to the next one without the camera first having to go looking for it in the auditorium. This procedure is repeated several times until the interrupted game is resumed, but can also end before that and usually only takes a few minutes.
Problem
It is not certain that the selected couples are in a romantic relationship ; they can also be siblings, friends, colleagues or completely unknown to each other, which can make a passionate kiss uncomfortable for the person concerned. The kiss is therefore often refused, or there is “only” a platonic kiss on the mouth or cheek, with the audience, not knowing about the unpleasant situation of the couple, boos and demands a more intense kiss. This problem is often circumvented by specifically choosing couples who have already exchanged caresses during the event.
Since the Kiss Cam is used at sporting events, it can happen that it is broadcast live on regional as well as national television, which may not be right for the couples who (should) kiss. In addition, Kiss Cams are occasionally uploaded to Internet platforms, as some people from the audience film the screens. The Internet community often makes mocking and malicious comments on such videos, especially when it comes to supposedly funny scenes, such as when one of the two selected people refuses the kiss.
Gay and lesbian couples may feel excluded from the Kiss Cam, as men and women are almost exclusively selected, or discriminated against if, for example, a homosexual person is asked to kiss someone of the opposite sex. People may find it generally uncomfortable to express affection in the form of a kiss in public, or they may refuse it for personal or religious reasons or because of loyalty to their own partner who is not present or has not been selected. Some couples, who may not want to kiss, feel compelled by the audience and kiss in order to avoid the displeasure of others that a refusal of the kiss would bring.
Web links
- The Kiss Cam And American Sports Fans: The History Of A Romance
- Ice hockey fans cheer for the first gay kiss. In: welt.de . January 12, 2016, accessed February 18, 2016 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Kiss cam dictionary definition | kiss cam defined. Retrieved February 24, 2018 .
- ^ Phil Edwards, Joss Fong, and Joe Posner: The kiss cam, behind the scenes. (No longer available online.) In: vox.com. Vox Media, archived from the original on August 20, 2019 ; accessed on May 5, 2020 (English). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
