Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Whatcha lookin' at?

Seriously, what are you looking at?

I have been perplexed by the Prime Minister and his wandering gaze. From the below article in the Tokyo Shimbun, it seems I am not alone:

見つめる首相  視線の先は国民?選挙?  
東京新聞

安倍晋三首相が最近、首相官邸内で記者団の質問に答える「ぶら下がり」取材の際に、テレビカメラをじっと見ながら話す「カメラ目線」で答えている。カメラの先の国民に直接訴えたいようだが、質問する記者の方は見ないため、不自然さがぬぐえない。

 首相は昨年九月の就任当初、世耕弘成首相補佐官(広報担当)のアドバイスもあって「カメラ目線」だった。だが、テレビ番組などで面白おかしく取り上げられたため、一カ月ほどでやめた。その後は、記者の方を向いたり、全体を見渡すように話していた。

 再び目線をカメラに向けるようになったのは、ここ三週間ほど前から。米国・中東歴訪の意気込みや集団的自衛権研究の狙いなどの質問に対し、カメラを凝視して考えを語った。靖国神社に「真榊(まさかき)料」を奉納したかどうかについても、明言を避けつつ、カメラに向かって「国民の皆さまの理解をいただきたい」と訴えた...

So let's see here. On the advice of his super genius media master, he is looking straight at the camera for the first month of his administration.

That weirds people out, especially the members of the press, who expect him to look at them when they are asking him questions. So the PM gives up on the staring into the camera bit and starts facing the person talking to him.

Then, just before the big overseas visits in April, he starts talking to the camera again.

In order to craft an image of strength and decisiveness.

Right.

1 comment:

Jun Okumura said...

You know what I would do if I were one of those TV camerapersons? I would move one way, then the other, and keep repeating this, very slowly at first, then progressively faster, and see what the prime minister does.

I guess that's why I'm not a cameraman, and monkeys can't be domesticated.