Fat Girl Angle Shot: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

This rather-insultingly-named trope refers to a specific form of [[Polish the Turd|turd polishing]] -- specifically, the angling and manipulation of an image to make its subject look much more flattering than they really are. Its use dates back to the earliest days of photography and film, where, unlike art (which was a fictional simulacrum of reality), those media captured images as they actually were.

 

 

In [[film]], it's related to [[Hitler Cam]], where unimpressive traits are disguised. However, this trope is more about deliberate concealment of negative attributes that would be otherwise be completely noticeable otherwise, where [[Hitler Cam]] is about manipulating perception to make someone look more impressive for a certain media format.

 

{{examples}}

=== Advertising ===

* Actual food products get a form of this treatment during advertisement. Since the actual food items often don't look half as impressive when actually served, the items presented during a commercial are often doctored to look fresher and crisper than they do when an actual person eats the same item in reality. Such doctoring will include shooting the food in certain lighting and applying the culinary equivalent of makeup to make the food look more appealing. Ingredients -- while representative of what is actually used/sold -- are specially prepared by skilled chefs and/or "food stylists" (instead of, for instance, 16-year-old grill boys) to maximize their visual appeal. Foods like prepared sandwiches and hamburgers are constructed with their ingredients deliberately placed off-center so they can be seen hanging out of the side of their roll/bun, subtly suggesting much larger portions than actually exist. See [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSd0keSj2W8 this video made by McDonalds] explaining exactly what goes into a food shoot.

 

 

=== Literature ===

* Winston Smith in ''[[Nineteen Eighty Four]]'' recalls an incident where a hooker he slept with did up her face so the makeup would hide her age in certain lighting, as it was not immediately apparent until he was close up and they were about to do the deed.

 

 

* Outside of media, makeup is often used for this purpose to disguise or downplay physical flaws.

* Hitler often used the [[Hitler Cam]] to make his height more impressive on film, though it was impossible to conceal in [[Real Life]]. However this trope was used in both photographs and film to otherwise disguise how one of his arms was prone to jittery movement, which many now believe to have been his attempt to cover up a case of Parkinson's disease.

 

== Photoshopped Examples - Using "Postwork" ==

=== Anime and Manga ===

* Chisame in ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima]]'' photoshops her online alter ego to look much more attractive than she does in reality, to the point that when this secret finally comes out, she outright has to confess the images were doctored to disbelieving onlookers.

=== Real Life ===

* Before the debates in 1858 in Freeport, Illinois between senatorial candidates Stephen Douglass and Abraham Lincoln, a series of daguerreotypes (an early form of photography) drawn up for both men were doctored to make both men look more impressive, with Douglass' cheeks slimmed down to make him less stocky and Lincoln received similar treatment to make him look less gaunt.

 

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