“Beazley himself told the ABC in 2005, when he returned, somewhat slimmed-down to the Labor leadership, that his size mattered politically: “Oh I’d like to be lighter… the cameras are unkind to those who are carrying a bit… one of the intriguing things as I go around and… bump into people in shopping centres and they say, ‘oh, you’re thinner than you look on TV’”.

Why do people look fatter and bigger on TV? Even people who appear to be normal sized turn out to be midgets in real life.

there are a number of reasons.

Pixel shape, format conversion, the way our eyes see, bad lighting, poor camera angles and lens distortion.

Monica: Oh come on, the camera adds ten pounds!
Chandler: How many cameras were on you?

Mrs T: Does this dress make my bum look fat?

Me: Nah, it’s all those chocolates you eat.

I’m almost back on solid food.

> Why do people look fatter and bigger on TV?

Um, because we see them most often face on? We’re wider side to side than front to back.

> Even people who appear to be normal sized turn out to be midgets in real life.

I’ve noticed this particularly with animals. Animals that look huge on the TV screen are really very small, perhaps because video cameras these days have such good focus that it’s possible to get them very close to whatever they’re filming, much closer than possible with the unaided human eye. I know this was true when I tried videoing insects and other creepy-crawlies.