Jason Reitman: Up in the Air

I got a laugh last night. I was watching Oprah and on her show, she aired a segment of the movie “Up in the air” directed by Jason Reitman. Reitman was one of her guests.

During the preview, one of the actors, who supposedly lost his job, was talking to George Clooney, who plays Ryan Bingham in the movie. Bingham (Clooney) fires the man and they show a clip of the man venting his anger at Bingham. I was immediately taken back because the fired man displays a classic anger micro expression.

I was like, “What the heck?! That man was good!” His lip quivered in anger and he showed disgust. I actually sat up and started paying more attention. I woke up a bit! I never see micro expressions in actors. It’s unheard of (outside of Lie to Me)!!! Then they played a few more actors and I was like, “Wholly cow! Where did they get these guys? This is good!!”

Then I started wondering if the clips were of real people and they just inserted them in.

After the preview, Oprah disclosed that they weren’t actors. They were real people who were laid off. Director Jason Reitman hired them to tell their stories and it gave his movie much more impact.

I loved it!!

Hey, if you are a movie production house and you read this, I’d love to help you make movies more realistic like this! Did you know even if people don’t consciously know they perceive micro expressions, their body still responds to them? Check this out!

It was the most refreshing thing. I’m actually thinking of going to see that movie. Maybe you will, too?

* My thoughts on Andrew Young soon, I promise!