(no subject)
In posting this, I've realized that this is actually the first time I've deigned mention of The Social Network in my journal - which is near unbelievable, because I could barely keep it in when it was released in October, and the months following that. Post-Academy Awards, it's about time I said something.
There are certainly an infinite number of ways to measure a film's value; with The Social Network, I'm measuring it by its apropos. It is a film of its own period, and so inexorably tied to it that it wouldn't apply to an audience as cogently as it already has with our current audience - it will still be engaging, yes, but will never engage with the same veracity.
But it's not a matter, here, of cinematic longevity, or the critical credibility - it's about cultural immediacy, and if there was ever a time for a film like The Social Network to earn Academy accolade, the time was now, because a film like this will probably never find itself in the contest again.
You can validly argue the film's superficiality, its narrative dependency on a vapid contemporary period that is impossible to romanticize, the web of perspectives with no clarity of resolution - but it's these myriad degrees of separation, these helpless gaps in such relentless conflict, that make it relevant. It's a divisive film, yes, and there are as many supporters as there are detractors, but it is a film that sits with everyone.
Still, The Social Network shouldn't have won Best Picture on virtue of the fact that it will never get another chance to do so; it should have won because this was its chance, because it was given an expectation, and exceeded it. The film turned it out.
What I can say with any definition is this: The Social Network may not be the best picture - not in 2010, and certainly not ever - but it's my Best Picture. It's about distance and relation, about the conveyed and its conveyance: it's about people and ugliness and entanglements, and just because it's not factual, doesn't mean it doesn't speak true.
... I just like the film.
THE SOCIAL NETWORK (2010)
A MEDIA PRIMER
OR, SO YOU JUST WANT MORE, AND ALL IN ONE PLACE, TOO.
INDEX
APPROXIMATED CHAPTER TITLES with links to screencaps
A SUBJECTIVE AND POSSIBLY BIASED LIST OF FAVORITE SCENES with images
MARK AND EDUARDO: AN EMOTIONAL TESTIMONY
THE ALMOST ENTIRELY COMPLETE SOUNDTRACK with links to downloads
SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL
ARTICLES
APPROXIMATED CHAPTER TITLES
OR, SO YOU WANT SCREENCAPS AND THAT'S BASICALLY IT.
01. FINAL CLUBS. NOT FINALS CLUBS.
02. OPENING CREDITS.
03. ERICA ALBRIGHT’S A BITCH.
04. TWENTY-TWO THOUSAND.
05. ARE YOU TWO RELATED?
06. I THINK I DESERVE SOME RECOGNITION FROM THIS BOARD.
07. 32 E-MAILS.
08. IT WAS CARIBBEAN NIGHT.
09. WE DON'T KNOW WHAT IT IS.
10. 36 HOURS.
11. FACEBOOK ME.
12. WE HAVE GROUPIES.
13. I INVENTED NAPSTER. - THE HARVARD STUDENT HANDBOOK.
14. SEAN-A-THON.
15. I DID NOT TORTURE THE CHICKEN.
16. PALO ALTO. - LET’S GUT THE FREAKING NERD.
17. I WANT, I NEED YOU OUT HERE.
18. I HAD TO GET YOUR ATTENTION, MARK.
19. I WAS YOUR ONLY FRIEND.
20. YOU SET ME UP.
21. I HAVE ALLERGIES.
22. YOU’RE NOT AN ASSHOLE, MARK.
note:
More or less, I autocapped the entire film, and discarded anything blurry or lagged. "Notable" scenes were gone over again manually to be capped more extensively.
I apologize for not being able to upload all of the screencaps in one .zip. Never mind Megaupload being crabby, but cumulatively, the screencaps add up to 1.78GB in size. Bear in mind that these are from the 720p Blu-Ray copy of the film.
I also thought that separating the screencaps by (approximate) scene would be more efficient, anyway.
RETURN TO INDEX
A SUBJECTIVE AND POSSIBLY BIASED LIST OF FAVORITE SCENES
OR, THIS IS REALLY JUST A SELF-INDULGENT PICSPAM.
01. 00:00:00 - 00:05:26
MARK: Because they're fun. And exclusive. And they lead to a better life.
ERICA: I think we should just be friends.
MARK: I don't want friends.
...
ERICA: Okay, 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.
02. 00:05:27 - 00:07:42
03. 00:07:43 - 00:16:17
MARK: Yeah, it's on.
MARK: I need you.
EDUARDO: I'm here for you.
DUSTIN: The network's down.
EDUARDO: Unless this is a coincidence, I think this is us.
MARK: It's not a coincidence.
EDUARDO: Holy shit.
04. 00:16:18 - 00:17:15
MARK: Thousand.
MARILYN: What?
MARK: Twenty-two thousand.
05. 00:17:16 - 00:18:56
06. 00:18:57 - 00:20:43
MARK: I've - you know. I've already apologized in the Crimson to the ABHW, to Fuerza Latina, and to any women at Harvard who may have been insulted, as I take it they were. As for any charges stemming from the breach of security, I believe I deserve some recognition from this board.
ADMINISTRATOR: I'm sorry?
MARK: Yes.
ADMIN: I don't understand.
MARK: Which part?
EDUARDO: I tried to stop you.
MARK: I know.
EDUARDO: How do you do this thing where you manage to get all girls to hate us? And why do I let you?
MARK: I know.
EDUARDO: You can't do that, Mark.
MARK: Eduardo, I said I know.
07. 00:20:44 - 00:24:51
DIVYA: Womens' groups are ready to declare a fatwa. But, you know, this could help rehabilitate your image.
MARK: Wow. You would do that for me?
08. 00:24:52 - 00:29:07
MARK: I can't stare at that loop of the Niagara Falls, which has absolutely nothing to do with the Caribbean.
EDUARDO: I can't feel my legs.
MARK: I know, I'm psyched about this too.
MARK: It probably was a diversity thing.
09. 00:29:08 - 00:38:08
EDUARDO: Hey, guess what? I made the second cut.
MARK: That's good. You should be proud of that, don't worry if you don't make it any further.
DIVYA: You stole our whole god damn idea.
MARK: Match.com for Harvard guys. You know, you don't really need a forensics team to get to the bottom of this. If you guys were the inventors of Facebook - then you'd have invented Facebook.
DIVYA: I can't wait to stand over your shoulder and watch you write us a check.
MARK: No shit.
MARK: Dustin. People don't walk around with a sign on them that says -
(DUSTIN IS PRECIOUS.)
EDUARDO: You have no idea what that's going to mean to my father.
MARK: Of course I do.
EDUARDO: Mark, are you - praying?
10. 00:38:09 - 00:44:27
DIVYA: What is that, on the bottom of the page?
CAMERON: It says "a Mark Zuckerberg production."
DIVYA: On the home page?
TYLER: On every page.
DIVYA: Shit. I need a second to let the classiness waft over me.
MARK: I went to my friend for the money because that's who I wanted to be partners with. Eduardo was the president of the Harvard Investors Association, and he was also my best friend.
GAGE: Your best friend is suing you for six hundred million dollars.
MARK: I didn't know that, tell me more.
11. 00:44:28 - 00:50:54
(I - just love the smoothness of the dolly. And Eduardo's little glances at Mark before Christy starts talking to him. But, the dolly.)
EDUARDO: She said, "Facebook me, and we can go out for a drink later." Which is stunningly great for two reasons. One, she said "Facebook me", right? And then the other -
MARK: They want to have drinks later.
EDUARDO: Yes. Have you ever heard so many different good things packed into one regular-sized sentence?
(NEGLECTED BEER BOTTLES OF INFINITE SADNESS.)
EDUARDO: So when will it be finished?
MARK: It won't be finished. That's the point. The way fashion's never finished.
EDUARDO: What?
MARK: Fashion. Fashion is never finished.
EDUARDO: You're talking about fashion? Really, you?
MARK: I'm talking about the idea of it, and I'm saying that it's never finished.
EDUARDO: Okay. But they manage to make money selling pants.
...
EDUARDO: Why didn't you show me this letter?
MARK: I didn't think it would be a big deal.
(I had to restrain myself from dictating the entire scene. Character-wise, it is infinitely telling - of both Mark and Eduardo.)
EDUARDO: If there's something wrong, if there's ever anything wrong, you can tell me. I'm the guy that wants to help. This is our thing. Now, is there anything you need to tell me?
MARK: No.
MARK: It's raining.
GAGE: What?
MARK: It just started raining.
GAGE: Do you think I deserve it?
MARK: What?
GAGE: Do you think I deserve your full attention?
MARK: I had to swear an oath before we began this deposition and I don't want to perjure myself, so I have a legal obligation to say no.
GAGE: Okay, no. You don't think I deserve your attention?
MARK: I think if your clients want to sit on my shoulders and call themselves tall, they have a 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. [pause] Have I adequately answered your condescending question?
12. 00:50:55 - 00:54:31
EDUARDO: Oh my god.
EDUARDO: We have groupies. Ngh.
13. 00:54:32 - 01:04:14
SUMMERS: Catherine, I've got students in my office now. Students. Undergrads. I don't know. From the looks of it, they want to sell me a Brooks Brothers franchise.
SUMMERS: You enter into a code of ethics with the university, not with each other.
TYLER: I'm sorry, President Summers, but what you just said makes no sense to me at all.
SUMMERS: I'm devastated by that.
14. 01:04:15 - 01:11:40
SEAN: A million dollars isn't cool. You know what's cool?
EDUARDO: You?
EDUARDO: He owned Mark from that dinner.
MARK: Shit.
15. 01:11:41 - 01:16:08
EDUARDO: And the dining hall was serving chicken for dinner, and I had to feed my chicken, so I - Well, I took little pieces of chicken and I gave it to the chicken. Someone must have seen me, because next thing I knew I was being accused of forced cannibalism.
EDUARDO: This is absurd. I'm being accused of animal cruelty. It's better to be accused of necrophilia.
MARK: It is better to be accused of necrophilia.
EDUARDO: You told your lawyers I was torturing animals?
SY: No, he didn't tell us about it at all. Our litigators are capable of finding a Crimson article. In fact, when we raised the subject with him, he defended you.
MARK: Oops.
EDUARDO: Don't fish eat other fish? The marlins and the trout?
DUSTIN: What's he talking about?
MARK: Get on board with this, man. You know - I don't really know what else to say.
(A line which I find oddly prophetic, and also telling.)
16. 01:16:09 - 01:28:58
EDUARDO: What part of the intern's job will they need to be able to do drunk?
MARK: You're right. A more relevant test might be seeing if they can keep a chicken alive for a week. [pause] That was mean.
MARK: Hang on. I'm just checking your math on that - yes. I got the same thing.
DUSTIN: Yikes.
(PRECIOUS.)
SEAN: Where's Eduardo?
MARK: He got uh, an internship. In New York.
SEAN: Eduardo didn't come out?
SEAN: So where the hell is Eduardo?
MARK: He's in New York.
SEAN: Sucking up to ad execs.
MARK: He's got an -
SEAN: An internship. The company's here. A billion dollar company is here.
CAMERON: Screw it. Let's gut the freaking nerd.
17. 01:28:59 - 01:33:15
SEAN: What's up?
EDUARDO: "What's up"?
(Am I the only one who wants nasty, scathing Sean-and-Eduardo (but not together) fic. I like their dynamic so much I tried it out for size.)
SEAN: You think you know me, right?
EDUARDO: I've read enough.
SEAN: You know how much I've read about you?
EDUARDO: No.
SEAN: Nothing.
MARK: Wardo.
EDUARDO: Why is he setting up meetings?
MARK: Thiel might want to make an angel investment.
EDUARDO: I don't care if he is an actual angel, why is he setting up business meetings?
MARK: So. How's it going? How's Christy? How's the internship?
EDUARDO: How's the internship?
EDUARDO: Mark. Jesus, I quit the internship. We talked about this on the phone. I quit my first day.
MARK: I do remember you saying that.
EDUARDO: I do not want that guy representing himself as part of this company.
MARK: You've got to move out here, Eduardo, this is where it's all happening.
EDUARDO: Did you hear what I just said?
MARK: I'm afraid if you don't come out here, you're going to get left behind. I want, I want, I - need you, out here. Please don't tell him I said that.
EDUARDO: What did you just say?
EDUARDO: He set up other meetings.
MARK: Yes.
EDUARDO: Without me knowing anything about it.
MARK: You're in New York!
EDUARDO: I'm in New York, riding subways, fourteen hours a day, trying to find advertisers -
MARK: And how's it going so far?
EDUARDO: What did you mean, "get left behind"?
18. 01:33:16 - 01:38:03
CHRISTY: Did you know I sent forty-seven texts?
EDUARDO: I did, and I thought that was incredibly normal behaviour.
MARK: You froze the account.
EDUARDO: I had to get your attention, Mark.
MARK: Do you realize that you jeopardized the entire company? Do you realize that your actions could have permanently destroyed everything I've been working on?
EDUARDO: We have been working on.
MARK: Maybe you were frustrated.
EDUARDO: Yeah.
MARK: Maybe you were angry.
EDUARDO: I was.
MARK: But I am willing to let bygones be bygones because, Wardo. I've got some good news.
EDUARDO: I'm sorry. I was angry, and maybe it was childish, but I had to get your attention.
MARK: So you've got to get your ass on the first flight back to San Francisco, I need my CFO.
EDUARDO: I'm on my way.
MARK: Wardo.
EDUARDO: Yeah?
MARK: We did it.
(This is the most difficult cap to colour in the entire film. For serious.)
19. 01:38:04 - 01:39:10
EDUARDO: Well, Mark doesn't care about money, and he needs to be protected.
EDUARDO: I was your only friend.
EDUARDO: You had one. Friend.
EDUARDO: A million members?
MARK: Yeah.
EDUARDO: Remember the algorithim, on the window at Kirkland?
MARK: Yeah.
EDUARDO: Yeah, I'll be here.
20. 01:39:11 - 01:47:09
EDUARDO: I didn't know whether to dress for the party or the business meeting, so I kind of dressed for both. But it didn't matter.
EDUARDO: Because I wasn't called out there for either one.
GRETCHEN: What were you called out for?
EDUARDO: An ambush.
21. 01:47:10 - 01:51:16
22. 01:51:17 - 02:00:26
note:
I keep adding scenes as I go along, and really, this is getting out of hand. I may just end up recounting the entire film this way. I also tend to get pedantic with my coloring, and things get shelved because of it. (Note the absence of the YOU SET ME UP scene.)
The numbers (and time-codes) correspond with the Approximate Chapter Titles; the picspam thus gives you an, um, approximate of the scenes capped in each .zip.
If you'd like to use these for cropping, icons and what have you - just give me a credit and do what you will!
RETURN TO INDEX
MARK AND EDUARDO: AN EMOTIONAL TESTIMONY
OR, SO YOU WANT TO IMBIBE THE CULTURE.
note:
STILL UNDER CONSTRUCTION.
This is meant to be a directory for Mark/Eduardo (or otherwise relationship-related) media - picspams, character essays, manifestos, fanmixes, et al. Feel free to point me in the relevant directions!
I was also debating on whether or not I should include a fanfiction rec list, of sorts, as this fandom is teeming with quality. But I may have that in another entry altogether, if I do find the time, eventually, to compile it.
RETURN TO INDEX
THE ALMOST ENTIRELY COMPLETE SOUNDTRACK
OR, SO YOU WANT MUSIC THAT ISN'T IN THE SCORE AND MAYBE YOU WANT THE SCORE TOO.
01. THE WHITE STRIPES - BALL AND BISCUIT
WHEN: Mark and Erica are at The Thirsty Scholar.
02. HAND COVERS BRUISE
WHEN: Mark walks back to Kirkland.
03. ROOTS MANUVA - MAN FI COOL
WHEN: Mark is articulating his hurt on Livejournal.
04. IN MOTION
WHEN: Mark starts hacking into the Facebooks of various Harvard Houses.
05. A FAMILIAR TASTE
WHEN: Facemash makes its rounds to the Harvard male populace.
06. IT CATCHES UP WITH YOU
WHEN: Mark meets the Winklevosses.
07. 10CC - DREADLOCK HOLIDAY
WHEN: It is being remixed at Alpha Epsilon Pi's Caribbean Night.
08. THREE HOUR TOUR - SO I WAIT
WHEN: Mark and Eduardo are talking outside in twenty-degree weather. You can listen to the demo here.
09. INTRIGUING POSSIBILITIES
WHEN: Mark works on Thefacebook, Eduardo makes the second cut, and the communication between Mark and the Winklevosses and Divya breaks down.
10. PAINTED SUN IN ABSTRACT
WHEN: Thefacebook is ready to go live.
11. ALL-4-ONE - I SWEAR
WHEN: It is sung acapella by the UCLA Bruin Harmony.
12. 3:14 EVERY NIGHT
WHEN: Divya and the Winklevosses find out about Thefacebook.
13. PIECES FORM THE WHOLE
WHEN: The depositions cover the popularity of Thefacebook on campus.
14. HAND COVERS BRUISE REPRISE
WHEN: The case of the cease and desist letter is brought up, and it starts to rain.
15. EVENTUALLY WE FIND OUR WAY
WHEN: Mark and Eduardo are having proxy sex.
16. THE CRAMPS - LIKE A BAD GIRL SHOULD
WHEN: Mark is allocating positions and duties to Eduardo, Dustin, and Chris. Unless I'm hallucinating. It's definitely somewhere.
17. PENETRATION
WHEN: Eduardo wishes Mark had been asleep.
18. MAGNETIC
WHEN: Sean-a-thon is in full swing.
19. ROOTS MANUVA - ITAL VISIONS
WHEN: Mark brings up Palo Alto, and there are diegetic chicken sounds in the background.
20. DEAD KENNEDYS - CALIFORNIA UBER ALLES
WHEN: The Facebook interns have been decided.
21. RONNIE HUDSON - WEST COAST POPLOCK
WHEN: The Palo Alto faction is playing with the zipline.
22. DENNIS DE LAAT - THE SOUND OF VIOLENCE (MAIN MIX)
WHEN: Mark and Sean are in the club. I - cannot find a workable link of this. Would anyone like to share? Several thanks to those who provided links! ♥
23. IN THE HALL OF THE MOUNTAIN KING
WHEN: The Henley Royal Regatta proceeds.
24. HANDEL - ARRIVAL OF THE QUEEN OF SHEBA
WHEN: The Winklevosses are reminded of how painfully, excruciatingly close their race was. The version in the film is performed by the Lumiere String Quartet.
25. BOB MARLEY AND THE WAILERS - CRAZY BALDHEADS
WHEN: Sean is plotting revenge on the phone, underage girls play video games, and Eduardo is at the door.
26. ALMOST HOME
WHEN: Eduardo freezes the account.
27. ON WE MARCH
WHEN: Mark calls Eduardo, and Christy sets her scarf on fire.
28. EXRAY'S - HESITATION (INSTRUMENTAL)
WHEN: Mark is telling Eduardo that he's got to come back for the million-member party. At least, I think so. I have the original version, and not the instrumental - which was the one featured in the film, and which as far as I know, has never been released.
29. CAGE - UNDERGROUND RAPSTER (POST-MORTEM REMIX)
WHEN: Mark is in his pajamas, Sean is urging him on, and it's not at all as sexy as it sounds. I only have the original album version, though - if you have the remix, please share it!
30. SUPER FURRY ANIMALS - BLEED FOREVER
WHEN: Eduardo enters the Facebook offices before finding out about the dilution.
31. GLUECIFER - BLACK BOOK LODGE
WHEN: The million-members party is in full swing, and Sean is just about to fuck up.
32. THE GENTLE HUM OF ANXIETY
WHEN: Marilyn drops in on Mark at the end of the day.
33. THE BEATLES - BABY, YOU'RE A RICH MAN
WHEN: Mark requests to be Erica's friend.
34. SOFT TREES BREAK THE FALL
WHEN: End credits are rolling.
TRENT REZNOR AND ATTICUS ROSS - THE SOCIAL NETWORK ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE SOUNDTRACK: LOSSLESS (PART 1 & 2) OR ~225KBPS
note:
... And the other remaining tracks from the score that I cannot place at this time, if they were even included in the film. A credit to David Fincher's attention for detail, the selection of songs used is quite the perfect collegiate hodge podge.
Even if it's all been said before, I can't say enough about the score - which is unequivocal CROWNING MUSIC OF AWESOME. That I've loved Nine Inch Nails since my formative years does not come into it at all, really. It is all encompassing in its brilliance, and deserves all the awards it gets.
RETURN TO INDEX
SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL
OR, THINGS YOU MAY BE INTERESTED IN READING FOR META REASONS.
BEN MEZRICH, THE ACCIDENTAL BILLIONAIRES
The entire novel is up on SCRIBD for perusal. If anything, I found it highly entertaining. It's written in a dramatized prose form, which is not the usual of "non-fiction", but it reads like coloured fanfiction, which I find immensely enjoyable (and kind of hilarious).
DAVID KIRKPATRICK, THE FACEBOOK EFFECT
SCRIBD. A much more objective account; the real Mark Zuckerberg authorized and participated in this, so you know it's. Yeah. Interestingly, Scott Rudin claimed that Kirkpatrick was in discussion to be a consultant for The Social Network, but eventually pulled out due to Facebook threatening Zuckerberg's non-participation in Kirkpatrick's book if he agreed to work on the film.
MARK ZUCKERBERG'S ONLINE DIARY
SCRIBD. The actual blog entries Mark Zuckerberg wrote that one drunken night as he created Facemash.
RETURN TO INDEX
NOTABLE PRESS
OR, ARTICLES OF NOTE ON THE FILM AND MAYBE THERE IS META TOO.
AMERICAN CINEMATOGRAPHER: WITH FRIENDS LIKE THESE...
An informative feature on the technical production of the film - the entire film was shot on the RED wth Mysterium-X sensors in 4K resolution. Lens aperture was also wide open for every single shot, which contributed to the filmic soft-sharp look of the film.
POST MAGAZINE: THE SOCIAL NETWORK
On the post-production workflow of the film. Technobabble that is probably only interesting to utter geeks as myself, but I'm sure I'm not the only one.
NEW YORK MAGAZINE: INVENTING FACEBOOK
A seven-page feature on the development of the film, the characters, and all else besides. There are several nuggets of insight here: the scripting, the casting, the schematic. The disparities between reality and novel, and then novel and film.
PITCHFORK: TRENT REZNOR AND DAVID FINCHER
On the conceptualization of the score.
ROW2K: ROWING AND THE ART OF THE SOCIAL NETWORK
PART 2 - MR FINCHER COMES TO TOWN
PART 3 - THOSE GUYS ARE FREAKING FAST
PART 4 - THE ACTORS ARRIVE
PART 5 - LIGHTS, CAMERA, CHAOS
PART 6 - TROUBLE IN THE TANKS
PART 7 - HOLLYWOOD COMES TO HENLEY
PART 8 - THE (NEAR) RETURN OF HENRY ROOSEVELT
This is rather amazing. An eight-part feature detailing production of the tilt-shift Henley Royal Regatta sequence, and the breadth of information on the process excites my feeble film student brain.
note:
STILL UNDER CONSTRUCTION.
For now, I'm just lazy, really. I have plenty of articles relating to the production process, as well as the Set Report; I'll put them up in time.
RETURN TO INDEX
note:
MY LIFE, WHAT IS IT. So, a labour of love, time, and an exceptional spell of psychosis. I spent an age on this. To be honest, the bulk of this had already been done before 2010 was out, but the travesties of RL had gotten in the way, and I kept putting this off. Eventually I thought it better to put it up anyway, for now, and come back to it later. I apologize if anything seems outdated.
There is no cast-coverage in this, or materials related to Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, Armie Hammer, Max Minghella, Joseph Mazzello et al - because it's probably not my primer to make. But I love them all. ♥
I would be happy and immensely reassured to know if this was helpful to anyone at all, so any comments would be appreciated (and treasured for life). I wish this wasn't as SRS BUSINESS as it purports itself to be, but I am lousy at being fun and good times, and there are many others who fulfill that a lot better than I could.
Please feel free to contribute to this entry as and where you can; the Mark and Eduardo: An Emotional Testimony and Supplementary Material sections especially. I will update it accordingly!
So, The Social Network is awesome, David Fincher is a fandom unto his oeuvre, etc. My feelings for this film are silly and inexplicable, and. That's about it.