The Social Network: How Editing Turned a Conversation into a Masterpiece
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- čas přidán 16. 06. 2024
- The Social Network is best remembered for its screenplay, but there's more to dialog than its script. So let's examine its opening scene to answer the question: How should you cut a conversation?
Chapters:
00:00 Intro
00:30 Breakdown
01:26 The Scene
05:08 Conclusion
#editing #videoessay #thesocialnetwork
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Also - I think we get to experience the conversation from her perspective because we aren’t meant to watch this and relate to/like Mark. We end up feeling for Eduardo later in the move, and that’s easier to do if during Mark’s first scene, we side with Erika over Mark.
Thats the biggest problem with the social network as a whole; it’s written from Eduardo’s perspective and therefore suffers from important bias…
@@Daniel.Barret.Officialit really isn’t lmaoo
Even if it is biased wouldn't matter. This video is about techniques which are useful for whatever your motive may be. The cuts and methods he describes are solid.
@@louispacetime1576 it totally is; I think Mark was more wrong than Eduardo but we’re not talking about quite as black and white as you might imagine
@@Daniel.Barret.Officialt’s not a documentary though. it’s a semi-fictional retelling and it doesn’t necessarily have to be unbiased
4:10 Your attention to her eyes glancing, and his head turning, just earned my subscription. I hadn't seen that, it's really natural and realistic, but also tells us so much about his mindset. The fact that I hadn't noticed it consciously proves how well that action and edit emulated the subtle visual clues you pick up in real life. Clearly everyone else agrees, as it's the most replayed moment. Thanks for that.
Genuine question here: wdym by "but also tells us so much about his mindset"? Which mindset?
@@rosieposiebias Maybe 'mindset' isn't the right word - I could have said 'state of mind'. I'll explain:
We don't know why she looked left twice, but what is interesting to me is that Zuckerberg follows her gaze the second time. At the start of the scene, he was full of confidence and disdain. But now she's chewing him out, and then by following her gaze...-
1) he seems insecure. Perhaps he wonders what she's seeing, who she's looking at, what she's thinking, where she is drawing inspiration from. She's unpredictable now, and he seems a little less comfortable - perhaps even anxious.
2) he has lost control. He is now reacting, looking where she 'makes' him look. (obviously I'm not saying this is her aim, but he subconsciously can't help it).
3) His glance left also hints that he is kind of looking for 'help', a way out of a situation that has turned uncomfortable.
I probably could extract a few more reasons. As with all literature and film, it's very subjective, and you can find more meanings than the original writer/director probably ever intended. I suspect this could be excellent improvised acting from Jesse Eisenberg, and it represents a subconscious sort of anxiety.
@HarryInEdi got it!! Thanks for your explanation. It's an interesting perspective, and I agree with it...
This is a fantastic explanation of this scene. Fincher and the editor here are flexing their grasp of the story and it works so well. I love how at the end when she walks off the reaction shot is a slightly elevated tilted down wide angle to symbolize how small he now feels comparatively after what’s just happened. It’s a quick cut but it’s like a chef’s kiss at the end of an already masterfully executed scene.
I loved your inclusion of the shot of them as equals in the alternate take. Really emphasizes how shot choice can imply information and deliver a feeling to the viewer.
How six minute conversation in some bar is still so intresting to everybody, when I could not care less about their conversation.
@@jout738didn’t you specifically click on this video about this specific conversation?
Fincher’s use of the close up is so effective. He saves it for the strongest line/reaction in a scene. Compare it to bay where every shot is given the same weight
If you pay attention to the drinks on the table. Mark's has much more beer in his glass than Erika. During the scene, Mark is the only one drinking. He seems to take a sip every time he feels pressure/uncomfortable. Erika on the other hand, never touches her drink. The glasses of beer symbolize the power struggle between the two. Mark feels he is superior thus having more beer at the start. By the end of the convo, the level of beer is equal in both of their glasses, symbolizing Mark's loss of power in their relationship. They are now on equal ground. Of course it is at this point, Erika breaks up with him. Mark attempts to take another drink but stops himself because the power struggle is over.
No, it's just a continuity error.
@@anotheryoutubeuser David Fincher is VERY deliberate. This is not a continuity error. Not at all. Watch the scene again. The amount Mark's character drinks and what is left in the cup, is very precise. This is a well crafted symbol.
Interesting! I always interpreted that as characterization rather than symbolism (not to say there isn’t room for both, just my take on it is all.)
Mark drinks because that’s what all the people around him are doing, it’s what people expect you to do in a bar-he’s trying to live up to the social expectation.
Erica doesn’t drink because she has to study later, and she doesn’t care what strangers think, or maybe more specifically, doesn’t want to be defined by others' expectations (which is she breaks up with him and then Mark betrays again later by blogging about her.)
When Erica leaves, Mark looks arounds, goes to drink, realizes it’s not socially acceptable to drink alone, and then promptly leaves.
It’s a bar lol it’s the norm to drink it’s weird trying to make something common & normal into something complex for no real reason
@@lastcuneyt3334 but it's also weird not to make something complex when making a movie
Brilliant video. As an artist, though not a filmmaker, I've come to appreciate more and more the power of the choice. Specifically, the choice of when to use something powerful, when to sing a discordant note in a song or break a rhyming pattern in a poem. I think the close-up at the end of this scene is a brilliant example of those choices, not because the editor chose to use a close-up for that line--that much is fairly obviously--but because it's not the first time they used it. By establishing the audience's proximity to the characters earlier in the scene, they can use the power of a close-up together with the power of a poignant line in a way that doesn't draw attention to itself. We feel it like an emotion, not a choice. And that's the power of the choice.
i liked the explanations of the single shot vs the close up and the effect it gives and how reactions build up the pace of the scene due to rapid scene switching. overall 10/10 video
dude keep making videos like this please because the very simple things that are the basis of cinema are often little known 🙏
the content of this video is so good. it's concise, short and actually educational. I saw the titles of your other videos and I can see a clear idea behind this channel. I hope you will continue to be truthful for this mindset and become a succesful youtuber in the future, just keep making videos.
Dude this breakdown is so well done and it's the perfect length.
This recommendation actually send me down a binge on your channel. Looking forward to see what's next.
I like this video especially because it gets the point across in a very short amount of time! Other youtubers should take this as an example.
I recently found your Chanel and i really appreciate your efforts to make quality content. Thank you so much.
I’m fully aware that Social Network is heavily dramatized from actual events. Goddamn is it one of my favorite movies though, just an absolute pleasure to watch.
I've come back to rewatch this several times it is very insightful to think about, especially at the end where you show what it could have been (just the wide shot). The imact that editing has on the delivery of a movie is astounding.
See, what's weird is that I noticed most of this subconsciously and about half of it consciously. It's so strange to see how much you saw without being fully aware of it. Kinda simultaneously disturbing and awesome.
Great video! Shoutout to my favorite editing software and movie in the same sequence, Resolve and The Social Network. Thanks for teaching me why I love this movie so much. I’ll definitely takeaway some of these key points. Keep up the great work on these breakdowns!
+1 for Resolve!! 😁 🙌
This video is tremendousnly underrated. Awesome stuff!
the cutting back and forward reminds me of a comic, dialogue per shot usually being limited to one sentence so the shot doesn't feel stale.
This is exactly the video I needed to see right now.
I'm going into my final year exam at school, and I have to make a short film for drama class.
I've liked my story, but something about the way I've done test shots felt flat to me.
This really helped put into perspective the usage of different shots, and how to contrast one type of shot from another
Thank you
show me it
May we see the result ?!
@@ad16 Within the coming weeks ill be allowed to post it. Its still in the prosess of being marked, however yes, I'd love to display it soon.
@@NimoClancy Looking forward to it :)
updateme
Appreciate these great technical insights on this amazing scene, in this nice video, thank you!
this is great man! keep it coming, im subscribing!
great video!
really liked the explaination and visualisation of the editing.
This is very helpful. Thanks for making it
This is a great example of how a dialogue scene with simple shots can be interesting. When a film's dialogue scene edited like this becomes boring it's often not because of the back and forth shots but rather the theme of the conversation isn't appropriate for this kind of editing. Excellent dissection!
Incredible video. Thanks for your insight. 🎥
Subscribed. Incredible analysis. Thank you good sir.
Great work on this vid buddy! Stellar stuff 👏
Really great breakdown with clear edit visualizations!
The Shawshank Redemption next?
excellent breakdown
Excellent analysis.Thank you.
I hope that content like this will help people understand what good editing actually is.
It's certainly not adding flashy motion graphics or visual effects.
Every time i come across a comment that says "The editing of this is truly masterful" it takes me a few seconds of 'wtf, no it wasn't' before I realize they are talking about the addition of cartoon tears flowing down the subjects face or steam coming out of their ears.
This was fascinating, thank you.
Super enjoyable vid, subscribed!
this scene is just unforgettable
Great work!!
I love how you dissected this scene and talked about its form, nonetheless I don't think personally, but this doesn't apply for every case, that we need to make a conversation interesting, a conversation per se could be really interesteing if the dialogue is written adequately and obviously there is always gonna be editing so we can make the conversation even more interesting. My point is, if the content of the film is well made, we can use the form just to embelish the moment not the other way around, but thats just me dont hate me.
We need more of these ‼️
These simple conversation scenes from Fincher are what made me a fan. He did it time and time again in Mindhunter, RIP
Thanks for the lesson!
Very neat analysis
I'm glad the algo recommended this channel to me 👍
Great video, dawg.
Great analysis!
Step 1: Framing
Step 2: Learn how to do Step 1
Step 3: Learn as much as you can about movies before shooting the scene
Step 4: Shoot the scene
Step 5: Watch the scene and continue learning and experimenting to make improvements over time
Step 6: Throw it in the garbage can.
A good confrontational dialogue should be shot and edited like a good fight scene... and David Fincher sure knows that - You could probably find a 5-minute fight scene with very similar cuts
Amazing video
Good video. Subscribed.
Nice one
As an introverted, when I first read the miniature I thought this video was about how to cut a conversation. You know, when you don't feel like talking to someone but she/he won't stop talking to you... then I read the title.
A good combo to take someone brilliant visually like Fincher and combine with someone with just good dialogue like Sorkin.
very good video
I love this video please make 100 more like it
awesome awesome!!!
Interesting. Consider more focus in your edits, as this will alter perspective and tone. Simple but effective. Thank you!
Do they have all five cameras rolling at the same time? Or do they shoot a bunch of different takes with cameras setup in each angle ?
For complete different angles they use different takes and cut them together. If the angles are only slightly different it’s possible they have other cameras rolling.
Fincher direction with Sorkin dialog - yeah it’s good.
is this everything i want from a video essay? will update with the answer after watching 👇🏼
surprisingly, not quite, but almost. subtitles not auto-generated, the narration not interrupting their dialogue and instead opting for pauses--these 2 changes would make this the video essay to rival lessons from the screenplay days.
All I thought about at the end of the scene, apart from the ego-crushing final blow, was the waste of two nice beers that were left on the table.
When I broke up with my gf we were respectful to the point of actually finishing our beers before flipping each other
wow really interesting
Why spend more time with Erika in this scene Mark, the protagonist? Well cos she's the muse.
Wonderful video!
That was the shortest 6 min video I ever watched. Very well done
nice!
Very informative analysis for a person of my skill level. How long did it take you to produce and edit this? My guess is 80 hours.
Graet job
great job!!
tár needed this
what a great video holy shit
Love this breakdown but can't Mrak's slightly shorter screentime just be attributed to him simply talking quicker. It seems like a fairly insignificant time difference for the audience to notice.
You got me.
Greatest movie ever
"it'll be because you're an asshole" is one of the hardest bits of dialogue in any movie ever
NaIce
Monogatari is good at making long conversations interesting to watch/read
I wonder how much thought a director gives to these sequences
Could you please do one on the editing of Dunkirk?
I'll add it to the list...along with all the films that have won best film editing! Anything in specific about it you'd want to see covered?
@@cutting-concepts Thank you! Mainly how it creates a sense of cohesion despite having three stories being told simultaneously, and how it creates tension. Also look into how the music corresponds to the visuals
Good idea! Reminds me of a video by This Guy Edits from a few years back: czcams.com/video/C2eHpxOzjqY/video.html&ab_channel=ThisGuyEdits
Of course I’d have my own take on the subject, but definitely worth a watch
@@harywhiteproductions I personally felt telling the story in three different timelines was a bad/ ineffective choice. I never felt the tension for the pilot running out of fuel. He just kept flying throughout the story. Thoughts?
lol..."then the conversation gets faster"...as he hits fast forward.... this guy LMAO so much smoke
that's a very low bar for the word "masterpiece"
How do you change the color in Resolve?
Loki and Sylvie train scene please 🥺
Drive creators should have seen this video
Not to be contradictory for its own sake but to genuinely question something, cinema/film/video is a young field and yet the “logic” expectations and “language” seems to be rigidly defined. At least by the majority of people who are enthusiasts, the community, the people who participate in this culture as producers and consumers.
The academy awarding this movie for what it sees as the goal, as what should be done. But we should question the academy since it’s quite integrated into capitalism and it’s profit motives it’s ideology Neo-liberalism (not trying to say I’m either a liberal or conservative btw just analysis).
While this is certainly a way and they say the majority sees as optimal/“cinematic”/Oscar worthy/mainstream we would do well to question how such a young field is so rigid and at the behest of an academy that is overwhelmingly male and white (80%+ white in 2022)
This isn’t to neg on your analysis this is quite helpful but perhaps any mention of the factors I mentioned would be useful in reminding this community that the field actually seems quite samey obsessive about references and homages
I agree!
The Academy Award is not _the_ standard for filmmaking, just simply a standard-I’d perhaps argue that it has become the American standard, that is to say, predominately capitalist, white, male, and English speaking.
And keeping in mind that success is not defined by the mainstream is crucial to learning about and innovating in any art form. To be limited by any narrow definition of success or quality constrains the possibility of the expression of genuine ideas and experiences.
Ultimately though, through the cosmic lottery, a lot of my film education and inspiration comes by way of the American mainstream, and that’s something I've been looking to expand by experiencing more films with different perspectives.
A CZcams comment is a terrible medium for nuance, so I’ve probably haven’t got my point across well, but all of this is to say it’s something I try to keep in mind when discussing editing and films in general!
Arguably a lot of interactions with Mark are from the other characters point of view. I think this is done for 2 reasons, the cost of obsession and how Mark’s words and actions affect others. Mark is clearly an obsessive person, this scene he explains his obsession of Harvard’s clubs. He speaks of them so passionately that it offends Erica and causes the break up. And the movie comes full circle when we see how Mark’s obsession with his work causes his friendship with Eduardo to end. We don’t need to get into the mind or Mark and his obsession but rather how this toxic trait affects the people around him. Thus, why this scene is cut primarily focusing on Erica and less on Mark. 😊
It boggles the mind that this lost out to The King’s Speech for best picture
Next conversation...coffee shop in Heat!
I made a project about this and continuity editing for film studies and failed💀
This movie was done so well it's entirely unsurprising how well it assassinated Mark Zuckerberg's real life character, for example the entirety of the breakup is a bogus fiction, even his obsession with fraternities or unnecessarily hostile engagements with his coworkers, even to the extent of the Winklevoss twins and how he conducts business.
Mark is such a standup dude, as good of a movie this is I don't think any human deserves this
I will make a video talking about the edition of this video essay
Always forget that's Rooney Mara. This had to be before The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, she was great in that.
The music is distracting & a bit irritating. The information is great
Why is their hair cut out?
You’re over thinking it my bro
How many of you were kind of amazed that the 20 year anniversary of the founding of Facebook also happened to occur in the exact same day as the explosion of the Chinese Spy Ballon? Interesting because the first sentence of this film involved geniuses from China 😂
On top of that, she's on the left side of the screen, the "good" side for a western brain, si she's presented as a protagonist and him, the antagonist. If you didn't know what the movie was, you'd think she's the main character. But the movie is about the "villain".
The Editing Academy Award lost all credibility when they gave it to Bohemian Rhapsody.
Not a bad movie, but all I can hear is the guy from the meme video saying: "It's not that deep... ITS NOT THAT DEEP"
Can also never forget that Rooney Mara is just much prettier and nicer too look at than Jesse Eisenberg hahaha.
If only George Lucas saw this before making the prequels
Great analysis, great editing. Still David Fincher's most overrated movie (from a David Fincher's fan).
This is just over-analyzing the scene in question. It's like the product of a trolling AI.