Hollywood at times can give new insights. From Lie to Me – a series featuring Tim Roth – an exercise in the study of microexpressions.
Interestingly, at the point where Luciano Busuttil is giving his version of events in the Nifqghek Incident we can see both Deborah Schembri and Leo Brincat with expressions of sadness, the hardest microexpression to fake:
-Inner corners of the eyebrows are drawn in and then up
-Skin below eyebrow triangulated, with inner corner up
-Corner of the lips are drawn down
-Jaw comes up
-Lower lip pouts out
Debono Grech on the other hand is clearly still agitated and his microexpression is clearly and unequivocally concentrated around an expression of anger.
-The brows are lowered and drawn together
-Vertical lines appear between the brows
-Lower lid is tensed
-Eyes hard stare or bulging
-Lips can be pressed firmly together with corners down or square shape as if shouting
-Nostrils may be dilated
-The lower jaw juts out
As for whether MP Busuttil was telling the truth as to whether or not he heard Debono Grech’s words, well that is where Hollywood ends. The truth is that there is no clear way to tell if someone is deceiving by using microexpression detection: “For as Ekman, Frank, DePaulo, Burgoon, and Vrij have repeatedly told us, there is no single behavior indicative of deception. There are indicators of stress, psychological discomfort, anxiety, dislike, issues, or tension, but not deception.”
Still. Sadness and Anger. Clearly perceptible in this screenshot.
2 replies on “Microexpressions”
I think the gentleman giving his version of the Nifqghek Incident is now known as Mark Vella.
You’re probably referring to Mark Abela.