After days of speculation as to where in the world Taylor Swift was, and what exactly was she doing there, it’s been confirmed that the pop superstar is in New Zealand, where she is filming a music video. The video will be for the sixth single from her smash hit multi-platinum album 1989, though which song that will be is, for now, unconfirmed.
The shooting of the music video has not come without it’s controversies though, as it’s reported that the production company working with Taylor has ignored the rules of their permit (A permit that cannot be legally enforced), and rather than parking the allowed 2 production trucks on Bethells Beach where part of the film was being filmed, the production company parked “about a dozen”. The locals are not happy with this, and wild-life conservationists have pointed out that so many trucks could crush and destroy the nests of the rare and endangered Dotterel birds.
Cherokee Films, the company working closely with Taylor on the video and who have a long history of working on films in that area, have issued a statement in defence of both themselves and Ms. Swift, pointing out that she had nothing to do with the location planning, and was likely to aware of the permit at all. “Taylor Swift and her management team were in no way at fault and did not do anything that violated permits or ordinances” said a company representative.
Bill Oddie, wild-life expert and avid birdwatcher also issued a defence on her part in an interview on Sky News, saying “as far as I’m concerned, Taylor Swift can do no wrong.” He emphasised Cherokee Films point that it is very unlikely that Taylor was aware of the dotterel nests or the location planning at all, and further went on to point out that the beach is a popular and prominent filming location and has had much larger productions shoot there before, including a series of large scale action sequences that likely had 100s of crew and equipment, and they have not effected the Dotterel birds previously.
Approaching the interview with a humorous and playful tone, news presenter and journalist Kay Burley turned it in to a bit of a game with her followers on Twitter, challenging herself to see how many Taylor Swift song titles she could shoe-horn in to the interview, and she managed a very impressive four! Here are all four of the references she made, though they where much more subtle in the actual interview;
- “Seems to be some Bad Blood”
- “Possible to Shake It Off”
- “Very rare bird, not even 22″
- “So Everything Has Changed, now?”
The interview showed a less serious side of Kay Burley, who has been known for hard hitting and often invasive interview tactics in the passed.
Though Taylor has yet to comment on the issue herself, and though it’s still unclear for what song she’s shooting a Video, the issue seems like another case of a situation blown out of proportion, and experts indicate that such rare birds should be moved from such public beaches where filming so often takes place, and that Taylors video shoot will have little impact compared to the larger ones that often take place there.
There’s always a silver lining, though, and as a consolation Cherokee films has donated a significant sum of money to the preservation and protection of the Dotterel birds.
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