Ok, given that each of us is exposed to about 3,000 ads per day - on TV, billboards, internet, mags and the list goes on - it kinda figures that the media is sure to have a big influence on what we think, how we see ourselves and what determines what is cool or not.

So, we are here - as members of the media - to de-mystify the media so you can get the real deal on what goes down.

Want to look like the girl on the cover of your fave magazine or maybe like one of those babes on music videos? Well, you can - it's all about media manipulation.

Here's what goes on at a typical photo shoot to create those picture perfect images we see. So, if you get it that this is not reality you will hopefully get that there is no point in aspiring to this level of perfection 'cos it ain't real!

Sure, you can look like this with the help of media magicians but even those girls staring down at your from the pages of glossies or billboard don't look like this in real life.

• Imagine you are a model for a major advertising campaign/fashion shoot/music video - take your pick. You arrive at the studio makeup-less, wearing your fave trackies and your hair has not been washed in days. No matter, your team is on hand. Team, you say? Yup - that would be a fashion stylist or two, make up artist, hairdresser, lighting whiz, photographer, photographer's assistant. Did we say about 10 people devoted entirely to working you over to make you look hot?
• First up is your prep for the shoot. The makeup artist will spend about 1 hour on makeup, perfecting the look of natural whilst using a tonne of makeup and their consummate skills to transform you from everyday to uber glam. The hairdresser will work on creating a look that has shine, luminosity and that oh so natural, just out of bed tousle that has taken probably 2 people an hour to achieve. Your stylist has a selection of the finest designer duds and accessories and will fluff and flounce all over you to get your look just right.
• You are placed where they propose to shoot and then there is a lot of fiddling and playing with lighting to get it just right so that your skin looks luminous, any spots or wrinkles are diffused and you look almost angelic.
• Your photographer directs you on how to stand, pout, and position your head for the perfect angles and looks. Said photographer is the top of the tree and that's because they are superb at capturing just the right look, working beautifully with lighting and angles. Heaps of shots are taken for that one single shot that will grace the pages/billboard/whatever media. Makeup, hair and stylists are on hand constantly touching up, fixing, making sure that the perfection they have created is in place.
• Your work is done and you leave the shoot, waiting to see your work in the media.
• Between the end of the shoot and the final shots appearing, there is more work. Selected shots are airbrushed to infinite perfection. Critical editors will instruct that thighs be thinned, spots made to disappear, lines eradicated, noses reshaped - whatever they perceive to be your imperfection is easily and magically made to disappear.
• End result - you see your shots in a magazine and you marvel at how incredibly thin you look, note your birthmark on your thigh has gone, your skin is like porcelain, your hair is longer and thicker than you recall.
• You look at your image in the mirror - your birthmark is still there, those laughter lines are there, that scar you got when you fell off your bike when you were 9 is there, and you thankfully have legs that look like legs and not sticks.
• What do you prefer? A face and body that is uniquely yours complete with the battle scars that signify your life and you, or a manipulated caricature of reality?

Get real girls and see the media images for what they really are - not real, not desirable and certainly not attainable without a team of experts and a computer!