The Social Network

The Social Network is possibly one of the most depressing films I’ve ever watched. One way to look at it is a film about a young Harvard student who creates a social networking website to become the world’s youngest billionaire. Here’s how I saw it: A guy puts all his time and effort into making something to gain the interest of his ex who broke up with him because he was a douche while at the same time alienating his closest friend while not showing a single bit of emotion throughout the entire film.

Yes, he was rich and set for life but he practically stabbed his best mate in the back who had worked his arse off and actually put in the money to help start The Facebook going. Frankly, I found that extremely depressing.

Now that that’s done, I can say it was a very well made film and deserving of its academy award  for best adapted screenplay because I was able to grasp what they were saying and I’m crap with computer techno language. It manages to keep you on your toes throughout the film as Mark Zuckerberg and his gang get steadily more and more successful climaxing in reaching a million users. Of course, then again, it keeps bringing you down with scenes in an office where Zuckerberg is being sued for hundreds of millions of dollars so it doesn’t let you stay cheerful for too long.

I know it’s supposed to be factual and so not given a happy storyline like most fiction works do, but that doesn’t stop me feeling depressed watching a guy treat his supposedly best mate like that.

It’s an interesting film and is actually funnier than I expected it to be so I would recommend it.

Zuckerberg’s still a douche though.

The Meeting Pitch and Synopsis (re-done)

PITCH

A dark romance about a student blaming himself for the death of his girlfriend, whose spirit comes back to confront him.

SYNOPSIS

Sam Bauer is a nineteen year old university student. He lives in a one room apartment and he is extremely depressed following the death of his girlfriend Louise. She was killed by a speeding car after being convinced by Sam to walk to his flat. Sam feels responsible for Louise’s death and refuses to talk about the incident to anybody. He keeps a stiff upper lip when Jack - his friend and flatmate - is around him because he doesn’t want to burden Jack with his problems. 

The story revolves around Sam being visited by the spirit of Louise during the night setting up a dark confrontation from beyond the grave. However, as the encounter continues it soon blends into a less morbid discussion between the two. But Sam’s mind is still clouded with guilt and still can’t forgive himself.  Will Louise exonerate him of his actions? Or will she confirm his worse fears and hate him for what has happened?

The Meeting is a dark romance about how a young man must learn to forgive himself for his own actions. It shows a rare instance of someone who condemns themselves but finds a chance at redemption. Louise was kind and gentle in life, but will death have changed her outlook on the one she loved?

Trailer Week

One of the key things I’ve learnt this week from working on our trailers is how crucial it is to keep the “meaty bits” in. I hadn’t noticed before how very little dead space there is in actual movie trailers. It’s helped me realise how much you need to keep the audience focused on what is occurring, meaning always use the part of a clip that has something going on, rather than footage that isn’t relevant to the overall story and will not grab the audience’s attention. This is definitely a tip that I will keep in mind when making my trailer to The Meeting.

Soft trailer made by Lauren and I