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How I Wrote The Social Network (Aaron Sorkin's Writing Process)

Behind the Curtain

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Discuss your favorite film with me on our Discord server: Discord: discord

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The Social Network is one of the best films of the 2010s. Aaron Sorkin, a screenwriter famous for his dialogue, teamed up with visual director David Fincher to create a modern film with themes as old as story itself. Watch and learn how they did it!

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The Social Network is a 2010 American biographical drama film directed by David Fincher and written by Aaron Sorkin. Adapted from Ben Mezrich's 2009 book The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook, a Tale of Sex, Money, Genius and Betrayal, the film portrays the founding of social networking website Facebook and the resulting lawsuits.

ABOUT BEHIND THE CURTAIN
This channel is a way for me to share the best nuggets of knowledge for filmmakers I find. It's an attempt to take a look inside the greatest films and TV shows and learn from the creators themselves how they do what they do.

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#aaronsorkin #filmmaking #screenwriting

20 Comments

@BehindtheCurtain Creator 6 years ago (edited) Pinned

Talk about The Social Network and filmmaking on our official Discord server: https://discord.gg/xxTqXXd

@andrewrabon 6 years ago

Paraphrasing, but "write an antihero like they're making their case to God why they should be let into heaven" is absolutely brilliant. Great advice.

@rangoononline 7 years ago

If you don't have a scene where someone is writing on windows, the movie isn't smart.

@nickreece9361 6 years ago

I love the quote about The Social Network being " a story as old as storytelling itself". Even though its subject matter Facebook will be obsolete some time in the future, the script will always be timeless.

@jarltrippin 7 years ago

I hope Sorkin and Fincher collaborate again. At least one more time.

@jgeybp 7 years ago

Edgar 👏 Wright 👏 please 👏

@alperendincerr 7 years ago

Aaron Sorkin is one of the best screenwriter in the history.

@bimmovieproductions6352 7 years ago

I can't tell you how smart it was to have Fincher to direct this. Even though Fincher is more known far dark bleak visuals with extreme precision, that is the very reason that it works so well. He puts in ideas visually that would never even occur for other directors.
You should do the lord of the rings trilogy once, a real big thing, half hour long.

@joehopp7247 7 years ago

A fight club video would be pretty interesting imo

@kojisan1 7 years ago

A Wes Anderson and a Tarantino movie would be pretty cool to see.

@JudiChristopher 6 years ago

9:14
YOU can't write like anybody about yourself
"Amen Brother... Amen"

@zizoumonk10 7 years ago

Next vid please: How Charlie Kaufman Wrote Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

@nisargkhatri9994 7 years ago (edited)

Really interesting how you mix up the interviews of writers to make one coherent video. Thank younso much. Can you please do a video on Taxi Driver. It's one of the best case study on a character.

@Daddjokes90 7 years ago (edited)

Love how they sent it to Fincher for him to pass on it.

@seoulting28 7 years ago

Suggestions:
TV shows,
The Wire
House M.D.
Mad Men
Lost
Prison Break (only season 1)
Firefly
Movies,
Die Hard
Star Wars: A New Hope
Terminator 2
The Raid
Back to the Future
Infernal Affairs (original HK story for Scorsese's The Departed)
Space Jam
Thanks, man.

@JudiChristopher 6 years ago

WHAT??!! What Aaron Sorkin just say?
3:35
"I think mostly about intention and obstacle somebody wants something, something is standing in their way of getting it ... and if they can need it, thats even better ... I try not to TELL the audience who a character is....I try to show them ...
SHOW DON'T TELL...
I LOVE THIS MAN... he is GREAT.

@issaHMD 7 years ago

Dude, your sense for video editing is great. Video really complements the voiceover, makes it very easy to watch

@Illementary 6 years ago

Sorkin always murders it with the dialogue

@derfanddarf1 7 years ago

To be honest, I've watched The Social Network dozens of times, but never once understood (as in I couldn't understand what was being said literally, not that I couldn't understand the meaning) the line, "Creation myths need a devil."

@sign543 7 years ago

Aaron Sorkin is my favorite screenwriter...I fell in love with his writing back when I was a teenager and saw A Few Good Men...I said, “That’s the type of writing I want to do”. When I write stories (I am an educator and I write stories for my English classes), I think about how Aaron would write a scene...quippy dialogue, get in late and out early, let the dialogue reveal what’s happening, make it snarky and funny, but also meaningful. It shouldn’t sound like real dialogue, it should sound like what people WANT to sound like in real life. Yes, Sorkin is sort of a punchline for some in the industry, yes, he does have his signature sound and phrases, but in truth, all writers have this. You can read a story and almost instantly tell if it was written by Stephen King or by Tom Clancy. They each have an imprint on the writing that usually identifies who they are. And in developing your own style, you often borrow from your heroes until you find your own voice. I often watch films written by Aaron Sorkin just to listen to his art.