'Up In The Air' Director Jason Reitman Discusses the Art of Movie Soundtracks

One of the highlights oft this year's Academy Awards was the moving tribute to late writer/director John Hughes, the '80s auteur behind 'The Breakfast Club,' 'Pretty in Pink' and of course, 'Ferris Bueller's Day Off.' Double nominee Jason Reitman (for writing and directing 'Up in the Air') surely must've enjoyed the tribute as he tells Spinner he was a big admirer of Hughes, especially the use of music in 'Ferris Bueller.'

"It's actually a really musical movie when you think about the use of the band Yellow ['Oh Yeah'] -- that's like an iconic use of music, from the chase scene. There's 'Danka Schoen,' which is something that happens throughout the film; characters throughout that film are kind of humming 'Danka Schoen' and it all ties into that parade scene," Reitman says. "You got Ferris playing the clarinet, which is kind of an odd moment. You think about how he uses the keyboard to create his snoring and that Smiths scene [the museum] is just truly beautiful. Music is actually used really well throughout 'Ferris Bueller.'"

For Reitman, who's been acclaimed for his own use of music in 'Juno' and 'Up in the Air,' the mix of music and movies is a tremendous and imperative art form. "When you choose a song in a movie you are affecting the tone more than basically any other decision you can make," he says. "It affects the tone more than your casting, more than dialogue. Really there is nothing more than music that affects the tone and that's why the relationship with the composer is so tricky, because they are writing as much as the writer does."

Reitman's influences in picking music naturally include some of the most acclaimed soundtracks of all time. "I've never been the type to just pick some hit songs because it changes the movie and I want to identify a sound. There have been a few great soundtracks that have done that historically, the use ofCat Stevens in 'Harold and Maude' or the use of Simon and Garfunkel in 'The Graduate' are the two iconic soundtracks for me, where the sound and the movie are kind of cosmically linked," he says. "You can't separate one from the other; you can't hear 'Mrs. Robinson' and not think of 'The Graduate' and you cannot see that movie without thinking of songs."

For 'Juno,' Reitman created the same effect with Kimya Dawson. "Going into 'Juno,' I wanted to emulate 'Harold and Maude,' to find my Cat Stevens, and Kimya Dawson is just cosmically linked to Ellen Page," he says. "I thought her sound kind of mirrored A, the sense of humor of the character, B, the intelligence of the character and C, the homemade crafty quality of the character as well."

While 'Up in the Air' is more musically spread out, he is just as satisfied with it. "I'm really proud of this soundtrack. It's a subtle and very real score and sound," he says. "I love how Charles Atlas works into it. I love this song we got from first-time writer Sad Brad Smith, 'Help Yourself.' He was sadly ineligible for the Oscars, but deserves to be right up in there."

'Up in the Air' is out on DVD now.