Fincher's "The Social Network"

Hey, sorry about the late reply.

The ultimate fate of a special edition of The Social Network is still up in the air, oddly enough.  I won't speculate on the reasons, but so far there hasn't been much desire demonstrated on the part of the studio to step up for a proper special edition.  For whatever reason, the marketing department just isn't that interested.  Truthfully, there's nothing so unusual about that -- they evaluate their releases case by case and apply whatever marketing voodoo formula they do in determining which projects get the budgets and which don't.  That's fine, that's their job.  But since neither Fincher or I are particularly interested in half-assing it, we'd rather do nothing then serve up weak tea.

Okay, I take it back, I will speculate on the reasons.  I suspect that the very thing that's interesting, as you said, is what's the problem: Fincher isn't the filmmaker most of us would first associate with an Aaron Sorkin script about college students, you know?  And maybe there's a disconnect there for the marketing department.  I'm sure if this fit more easily into the pigeon hole of what people think a Fincher movie is, things would be different.

But I don't know, I'm speculating.  What I can tell you is that we shot behind the scenes every day, from pre-production all through shooting, and got some really great stuff -- somewhere near 250 hours worth of raw material.  I can't promise you'll see any of it anytime soon, but at least we have it for the future.

And I've seen a rough cut of the first 45 minutes of the movie and it's really, really good.  Jesse Eisenberg in particular is fantastic.

That's terrible news!

Have you and Fincher talked about doing it with Criterion like you did with Benjamin Button? Maybe they would pay for it if Sony doesn't want to?? That would be cool!

Dev.

So the good news of the last couple of months is that we were able to hammer out a way to do a special edition for this very special movie.  I suspected we probably would eventually, but I'm glad we're finally going.  Not a lot of time to do it in, unfortunately, but it's coming along very well.

Personally, I'm glad to hear it. I've been hearing a lot of good things about the movie, and a Fincher movie without a special edition wouldn't be a Fincher movie .

That's great news! I'm very excited to see this on the 1st and I can't  wait to see the special edition blu-ray!

Any chance that this will get a Criterion release much like Benjamin Button?

I know this thread is a bit on the way side, but anything that also gives me a "behind the soundtrack" I have to see.   This movie has one of the greatest soundtracks I have ever heard; the opening two beats of the soundtrack (Hand Covers Bruise to In Motion) are stunning in how they advance the plot; "A Familiar Taste" as a way to almost put into sound the workings of Zuckerberg's mind.. just incredibly, incredibly effective

Quote:

Originally Posted by mattCR 

I know this thread is a bit on the way side, but anything that also gives me a "behind the soundtrack" I have to see.   This movie has one of the greatest soundtracks I have ever heard; the opening two beats of the soundtrack (Hand Covers Bruise to In Motion) are stunning in how they advance the plot; "A Familiar Taste" as a way to almost put into sound the workings of Zuckerberg's mind.. just incredibly, incredibly effective

I couldn't agree more, and I think you're going to have a lot to like on the disc ;)

^ Cool. I don't know if you can say but is it fair to expect this in January or February (to tie-in with what I assume will be some Oscar nominations or wins)?

David-  You've just made this a "must buy" Special Edition.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TravisR 

^ Cool. I don't know if you can say but is it fair to expect this in January or February (to tie-in with what I assume will be some Oscar nominations or wins)?

You didn't hear it from me, but if you go looking sometime in the second week of January, I'll bet you find something...

 if you guys really like a discussion on the music here is something they linked on nin.com with trent and atticus and the music director of the film in a 45 minute panel

http://trashaudio.com/2010/11/the-music-and-sound-design-of-the-social-network/

BBFC just put up two commentaries 

THE SOCIAL NETWORK [Additional material Audio commentaries featuring 1) director David Fincher screenwriter/actor Aaron Sorkin and actors Jesse Eisenberg Andrew Garfield Armie Hammer and Justin Timberlake and 2) director David Fincher]

http://www.bbfc.co.uk/BVF270720

I'm hoping Fincher sits down for another video interview, he was great on the Button disc.

Hi David,

I got a chance to see "How Did They Ever Make a Movie Out of Facebook?" last night and thought it was terrific. Keep up the great work. 

Hi David,

Like a lot of people, I can't wait for the Social Network Blu-ray to land.  In the meantime, I saw that Sony's official site (500millionfriends.com) has been re-launched in time for the awards season.  Besides serving as a nice repository for the best Q&As and press from the film's theatrical debut (Todd McCarthy, the NYFF, Charlie Rose, and more), there's a wealth of new material that I don't think we've seen before, each centered on the cast and crew who are contending for awards (David, Aaron, Jeff, the actors, Trent & Atticus, Kirk & Angus, etc.).  

Were you involved in arranging for and shooting these latter interviews?  Is this part of the 250 hours of raw material you mentioned earlier?

As it stands, this new site (and the interviews within) feels exhaustive and comprehensive, particularly when you consider this is all housed online.  There are mainline DVDs from major studios that, in terms of special features, hit store shelves with less meat on their bones.  While the interview segments are safer and more varnished than what we're used to in your special features, there's still much to like.  Everyone you'd think would need to be represented is, in fact, represented.

If that wasn't impressive enough, this material feels like it was shot with some foresight, as if it were intended to cover all bases in case the film needed a little extra press come awards time.  A lot of that credit should go to the editing, because the interview segments seem smartly chosen to hide the fact that the material could've been shot months ago.  All in all, it feels very forward-thinking considering all the various players are surely busy on new projects.  It all feels like a breath of fresh air, and a welcome behind-the-scenes appetizer until the main course -- the Blu-ray you produced -- hits later this month.

Could you give us a little background on this material?  Does any of it repeat from the Blu-ray (Jeff, Angus/Kirk, Trent/Atticus)?  Or is it mostly carefully culled outtakes from those 250 hours?  Did you have editorial control over it, or did Sony's PR pull from your shot footage?

Thanks for your insights!

DVDRam

Hi "DVDRam"

The material you're talking about on the website is a collected from a couple of different sources.  Some of the interviews with the cast and crew we shot while we were in principal photography, and the rest in New York during the press junket in the week running up to the premiere at the New York Film Festival.  All of them are selects from material that was used in the supplements on the disc, with the only exception being the interview with Jackie West, which I shot at the end of November.  She was on location with Terrence Malick while we were sweating our deadline, so my only regret is that we didn't get her soon enough to include in the documentary.  The 250 hours I referred to was just the b-roll, not including the interviews, so it's even more when you count it all together.

There are a couple of other 2-3 minute clips being rolled out to websites (I'm not sure if they're on the official site or not) that we pulled out of the longer documentary, so they function sort of like teasers for the main show you'll get on disc.

My lead editor Keith Clark and I cut most of the material you see on the website, but Sony's publicity department, under the direction of Scott Rudin, compiled a lot of the raw interview material into short segments that would work on the web.

It was, to use an overused phrase, an herculean effort to get all this out given the schedule demanded by the awards season, the street date, and all the rest.  Seldom have so many slept so little while it was getting done, and believe it or not, it's still not over -- there's another piece or two I expect we'll have to do before it's all put to rest.  But I'm enormously proud of the movie and how well it's been received, and I'm honored to have played my small part in it.  I'm glad you enjoyed it, and hope you like the disc.

Cheers,

David

Thanks for the kind words, Shawn.  You must have gotten a screener copy, I expect.  At any rate, I'm really happy you liked it.

David, the supplementary features on this Blu-ray are nearly as compelling as the movie itself.  I especially enjoyed the Ruby Skye multi-angle comparison, which really illuminated the many factors that made that pivotal scene work so well.  Bravo!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Writer-dad 

David, the supplementary features on this Blu-ray are nearly as compelling as the movie itself.  I especially enjoyed the Ruby Skye multi-angle comparison, which really illuminated the many factors that made that pivotal scene work so well.  Bravo!

Thank you, kind sir.  So pleased you enjoyed it!

I just finished going through the features and they're, as always, really top notch. It's great to hear insightful comments about a current movie rather than the more usual EPK-soundbites that people seem to routinely give when they're in the midst of the release of a movie.

Fincher's movies are going to age like fine wines and in 20 or 30 or 50 years, I think all these docs are going to remembered as really amazing looks at the way that a great director made movies. Imagine if during their peaks, guys like Orson Welles or Francis Ford Coppola or Martin Scorsese had documented their work as well.

And am I correct in assuming that the note that Zuckerberg got in school originally said "cocksucker" before it was changed?