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The Social Network (2010) (Techniques (Sound Design (Music couldn't…
The Social Network (2010)
Characters
Mark Zuckerberg
Eduardo Saverin
Erica Albright
The Winklevoss twins
Both played by Armie Hammer and a another tall guy wearing a green mask they could impose Armie Hammer's face on to.
Marilyn, the lawyer who actually speaks to Zuck
Sean Parker
The movie star who attended Harvard at the same time was Natalie Portman
Techniques
Visual Design
Keep Harvard old. The university is unusual. The age of it's buildings is one of its distinguishing features. The age and reputation of Harvard could also reflect something about Zuck's desires. If Harvard can be seen as an embodiment of establishment, perhaps this is why facebook's offices seem so different. Zuck wants to feel like he is rebelling (and winning) against the entitled elite.
Sound Design
Music couldn't get in the way of the dialogue, but needed to impart information about the stakes and pressures of conversations.
In general, the music should inform the audience of one of the character's state of mind, level of comfort, fears or desires. It helps the audience
The track "hand covers bruise" is used to signify Zuck's growth and change. A combination of melodic piano and synthetic background. The piano sounds are altered each time the audience hears the piano. At first, the piano is clear and simple. Each other time we hear the track, the piano is more muted. This suggests that Zuck's growth has made him less relatable and almost more machine like. This tracks as Zuck begins to betray the loyalty of his friends and he cares about the company than the humans around him.
The film's use of discordant background music help influence views to interpret scenes in a particular manner. For example, the backing track during the facesmash scene implies a level grimness or a sinister nature. Without the music, this would be a montage of young, attractive actors partying and having fun.
Objectification
Multiple shots, angles and frames focus on women's bodies despite their lack of agency through much of the text. Some argue that this is because of the sexist status quo which influences many movies. Others argue that Fincher is trying portray the misogynistic attitudes present in the characters
A shot which focus entirely on this woman's ass and otherwise adds nothing to the film
Characters like Erica and her sympathetic portrayal suggest that there may be a better reason for the objectifying shots than "Asses are pretty". However, this argument is far from definitive and is possible that shots like the "Stanford" shot are there just because "asses are pretty"
Images like this also contribute to idea that the movie objectifies women, but the dark lighting, sinister soundtrack and the fact that this takes place in a montage where socially isolated nerds use facesmash suggest its inclusion may be an inversion. It is also possible that the images of the finals club at this point in the movie are just the imaginings of Zuck or Eduardo during the deposition.
Cinematography
Focuses on emotional responses as well social manipulation. In particular, Fincher wants the audience to see Zuckerburg misinterpret or be confused by the social cues/ploys of others
Mise-en-scene
Consider the costumes for each character and what that tells us about their personality
Mark: lots of hoodies and thongs. He doesn't care for fashion. What does he think about people who do?
Eduardo: A fair few suits, but he normally skips the tie. In general, he tries to meet social norms, although the fact that he travels to the California nerd house while being overdressed could suggest that he cares a little too much about his own image. This also fits with her worries about inadequacy
Shaun Parker appears at first to wear sophisticated outfits, but dresses down once he is trying to ingratiate himself/manipulate Zuck
Dialogue
Consider the key, memorable lines of dialogue in this film. This is a film that doesn't feature violence, has very little sex and cgi is only used to copy Armie Hammer's face and make the second Winklevoss twin. It is a film about talking. Think about which lines of dialogue occur when the soundtrack dies down. Think about Fincher's choice to keep the loud background sounds during the pub and club scenes.
Erica
"You are probably going to be a very successful computer person. But you're going to go through life thinking that girls don't like you because you're a nerd. And I want you to know, from the bottom of my heart, that that won't be true. It'll be because you're an asshole."
Arguably the thesis of the text
You write your snide bullshit from a dark room because that's what the angry do nowadays. I was nice to you, don't torture me for it.
Zuckerberg
"I think if your clients want to sit on my shoulders and call themselves tall, they have the right to give it a try - but there's no requirement that I enjoy sitting here listening to people lie. You have part of my attention - you have the minimum amount. The rest of my attention is back at the offices of Facebook, where my colleagues and I are doing things that no one in this room, including and especially your clients, are intellectually or creatively capable of doing."
Archetypal characters (and the criticism of them) While these characters represent social groups, the film makes a point of challenging audience expectations of these archetypes. While the nerds are portrayed as generally bad with women, the film focuses on their misanthropic(asshole-like) attitudes instead of their nerves or social anxiety (see the nerds from Stranger Things for a more traditional approach)
Mark Zuckerberg: The nerd
Winklevoss Twins: WASPs (White, Anglo-Saxon Protestants) are a social group of typically wealthy and well-connected white Protestants of British descent in the United States. The wikipedia entry on WASPs can give you a good idea of this American archetype. The also represent the sort of people who get accepted in to final clubs
Erica Albright: Arguably meant to represent young women who have the affections of nerds. While she appears only a few times throughout the film, she allows the audience to see the impact of Mark's online cruelty and the frustration of being the object of desire for a person who feels entitled.
Nonlinear structure
The story of Facebook
The deposition between Saverin and Zuckerberg
The deposition between the Winklevi and Zuckerberg
Themes
Friendship and isolation
Ambition and power
Entitlement and jealousy
Class and status
Differences from the real world
Sean Parker
He was not constantly starting new casual relationships. The real Sean Parker said that this element of the film was pure fiction
He has never been accused of sex with underage women. This part of the film is completely fictional. (and I can't imagine he is happy with it)
He was busted with cocaine, but he was on a kite-boarding trip and not a party with underage people. He did lose his job at facebook because he was arrested (but he was never formally charged).
Erica Albright
She's made up y'all
Zuck's romantic life
Not only was Erica made up, Zuck had a girlfriend when he invented Facebook. He married her and they are still together.
Apparently, making "facesmash" wasn't a deal-breaker.
Also, "Facesmash" was a completely real thing and it was as misogynistic as the movie presents. The following is an actual quote from Zuck's old blog;
"I'm a little intoxicated, not gonna lie. So what if it's not even 10 pm and it's a Tuesday night? What? The Kirkland dormitory facebook is open on my desktop and some of these people have pretty horrendiedous facebook pics. I almost want to put some of these faces next to pictures of some farm animals and have people vote on which is more attractive."
(note, all the people on Facesmash.com were women, though he had plenty of access to pictures of men.)
Director: David Fincher. Written by Aaron Sorkin
Lighting
Both high-contrast and low-contrast lighting is used in the film.
High-contrast lighting is when a shot has a lot of darkness and a lot of bright light, like the right side of this photo. High-contrast lighting generally feels a lot more intense and potentially sinister or dangerous.
Low-contrast lighting features less extreme shadows. The scene where Sean Parker introduces Sharon to Zuck is features low-contrast lighting. The scene (in the same house) where Eduardo arrives from the airport features high-contrast lighting.
