Okay, here is my breakout of the sequences. As before, my m.o. has been to think “reel” – to break down the script into 10-15 minute reels, the way movies were cut in the early days of cinema to accommodate the technical limits of projectors. The challenge in trying to do this with the script for “The Social Network” is that the sequences read longer in the script (163 pages) than they play out in ‘reel time’ (120 minutes). As before, each reel (except the last) ends on a cliff hanger beat. The question I tried to answer in deciding what is the cliff hanger beat is not: what is the logical flow of the story (in terms of plot points)? Rather it is: what is the emotional flow? How is the movie structured in terms of the audience’s experience? If this movie were shown with an old-fashioned projector that could only play a 15 minute reel, where could the movie be cut so as to leave the audience in the dark (literally in those days!) wondering, worrying, curious -- desperate to know: what happens next? Or in modern venues, how to keep the viewer’s eyeballs and attention focused on the screen, not drifting to their smartphones? (Unless the smartphone is the venue.) My choice of cliffhanger moments is arbitrary. In some sequences, there is a good argument to be made for a different choice. Which I blame squarely on Aaron Sorkin. He skillfully crafted his script with so many cliff hanger beats between scenes as well as sequences—there are too many good choices! REEL #1 – A romantic crash leads to a network crash:    What happens: Erica dumping Mark provokes him to foolish words and mischief on the Harvard network.    Cliffhanger beat (p21-22): Thanks to the popularity of Mark’s FaceMash, the Harvard network crashes.    Cliffhanger question: What will be the consequences for Mark? REEL #2 – Notoriety leads to Opportunity:    What happens next: Impressed with the hacking skills that got Mark into trouble, the Winkelvoss twins and their friend Divya Narendra offer him a chance to redeem himself by helping them code their concept for a social networking site.    Cliffhanger beat (p39-40): Mark decides to build his own social network site rather than one for the Winkelvoss twins.    Cliffhanger question: Will he pull it off? REEL #3 – The Devil in the Details – and the Deceit:    What happens next: Mark codes his website while putting off the Winkelvoss twins with one excuse after another.    Cliffhanger beat (p56): After discovering that Mark’s website has gone live, Divya Narendra rushes out to inform the Winklevoss twins that Mark has stolen their idea.”    Cliffhanger question: What will the Winklelvoss twins do to Mark? REEL #4 – Breaking the rules:    What happens next: Mark’s website and reputation grow as the 'Harvard Gentlemen’ dither and argue about how to stop him.    Cliffhanger beat (p83): The Winkelvoss twins will go to the top, appeal to the President of Harvard , Larry Summers, to stop Mark.    Cliffhanger question: a two-fer: Will they get satisfaction from Larry Summers? And ”Why Stanford?” –Cameron, wondering about Mark’s expansion plans. REEL #5 – The fox and the chicken:    What happens next: Sean Parker discovers The Facebook website, realizes its potential, takes a meeting in New York with Mark, undermines Eduardo’s influence. (And Eduardo has to deal with a petty scandal over a chicken.)    Cliffhanger beat (116): In spite of his misgivings about Mark being enthralled by Sean Parker, Eduardo pitches in $18,000 but doesn’t join Mark in California.    Cliffhanger question: “I figured… how much could go wrong in three months?” REEL #6 – The fox in the chicken coop:    What happens next: Mark comes under Sean’s spell. Eduardo becomes marginalized.    Cliffhanger beat (p136): Frustrated and humiliated, Eduardo freezes the bank account he had set up for Mark.    Cliffhanger question: Will this sabotage Mark’s effort to grow the website? REEL #7 –Venture Capital:    What happens next: Sean enables Mark to obtain venture capital to keep growing the web site, but that requires major changes in structure and stock ownership.    Cliffhanger beat (p147-148): Eduardo returns to California for the millionth member party unaware of the reorg.    Cliffhanger question: “What were you called out there for?”—Gretchen. “An Ambush”- Eduardo. REEL #8 –Lawyer Up:   What happens finally: The dilution of Eduardo stock and influence is complete, his relationship with Mark irrevocably destroyed. Time for everyone lawyer up. Including Sean Parker after getting busted for drugs. Mark will have to settle with the twins and his ex-best/only friend. But the punishment amounts to a “speeding ticket”, a small price to pay for spectacular fortune and fame. But what price has Mark paid in terms of his integrity? And we are left to wonder on the irony that the master architect of the world's biggest web site for connecting to others was [in the 'creation myth' that is "The Social Network"] so incompetent when it comes to connecting to others himself.

Thanks, PaulG. Been swamped the last few days. Will return to your sequence breakdown later. Again, thanks.

EXPOSITION 1-9: Mark is on a date with Erica. He expresses his discontent with the system, bitter that despite his superior intelligence he would never be invited to join the Harvard elite. He insults Erica with his arrogance and she leaves, dumping him for good. RISING ACTION 10-22: Rebuffed, Mark goes back to his dorm where he simultaneously drinks beer, blogs disparaging remarks about Erica, and hacks the Harvard network to obtain photos of all the women on campus. He recruits his roommates and CLIMAX his friend Eduardo to develop Facemash, (alogrithm) FALLING ACTION a website to compare the attractiveness of Harvard’s women. RESOLUTION It’s a huge hit and crashes the network in hours. GREEK CHORUS 22-24: Flash-forward to a deposition room. Eduardo and Mark are flanked by their respective attorneys. The lawyers are going through the events of the Facemash story but Mark is hung up on the details of his interaction with Erica. ACCUSES ERICA OF LYING ABOUT HER TESTIMONY. BIG DEAL. 22,000 HITS. EXPOSITION 24-26: The Winklevoss twins, two wealthy jocks that epitomize the Harvard elite, discuss Facemash with their business partner and decide to recruit Mark for their website idea. GREEK CHORUS Flash-forward and we get a glimpse of the twins across from Mark in a second deposition. RISING ACTION 27-29: Mark is at an administrative hearing where he is berated about hacking and crashing the network. Mark displays his arrogance by stating the board should thank him for exposing the weaknesses of their system. Outside, Mark explains to Eduardo he got put on probation. *** U dick note. Girls hate Mark. CLIMAX 29-35: The Winklevoss twins are waiting for Mark outside his programming class and invite him to discuss their idea. FALLING ACTION/RESOLUTION Back at their elite club, they describe Harvard Connection, pointing out the unique thing about their site is exclusivity – only people at Harvard can join. This piques Mark’s interest. GREEK CHORUS 35-36: Flash-forward and cutting between the two depositions. Eduardo’s lawyers are asking Mark when he decided to involve Eduardo. The twins’ lawyer is trying to get Mark to admit he agreed to make their website. Mark is deflecting all questions by arguing semantics. Said he’d help. Approach edwardo. Carribena night. EXPOSITION 37-42: Mark meets Eduardo at a decidedly non-elite college party. Mark pulls him aside to discuss the website idea. Eduardo tells Mark he has been “punched” to join an elite club. *Eduardo agrees to back Mark GREEK CHORUS Intercut with the first deposition where Eduardo’s lawyers are going through the details of their early arrangement. Highlight jealous theme 42-44: Eduardo at the second deposition answering questions from the twins’ lawyer. We get an idea of Eduardo’s opinion about Mark’s jealousy of clubs. RISING ACTION 44-50: Montage sequence. Shots of the website being outlined on a white board. Mark programming. Mark discussing the business with Eduardo. Intercut with Eduardo pledging to the club. Intercut with the second deposition of the twins’ lawyer reading Mark’s emails misrepresenting his availability and progress with their website. Sequence ends in the deposition room with Mark defending that the code is his and he didn’t steal anything. CLIMAX 50-55: Mark is programming in a lab, being pestered by a friend about whether a girl he likes is single or not – Mark gets an idea. He runs back to his dorm and meets Eduardo there, he begins putting the final touches on the site and Eduardo sees it for the first time, impressed. The site goes live. Mark convinces Eduardo to send the link to the members of his club. FALLING ACTION 55-62: The twins’ partner is out with his girlfriend and sees theFacebook for the first time. He storms out and interrupts the twins at rowing practice. RESOLUTION They call their dad and his lawyer to decide what to do. They argue over how to handle it. One twin wants to keep things civil. GREEK CHORUS 62-65: Cut between depositions. The twins’ lawyer tries to pin Mark as resentful of the twins’ status and family wealth. The early success of the site is described. MARK IS HUGE. EXPOSITION 65-72: While attending a guest lecture, a couple girls notice Mark and Eduardo and want to meet up later. Guys stop them on the street congratulating them on theFacebook – they are campus celebrities. RISING ACTION Back in Mark’s room, Eduardo wants to capitalize on their success with advertising. Mark is against it, he wants to continue to build. Eduardo notices the cease-and-desist letter from the twins’ lawyer. Mark shrugs it off. GREEK CHORUS 73-74: Second deposition. The twins’ lawyer drills Mark about his deceptive emails before cutting ties with the project. Mark is distant, dismissive and arrogant. 75-80: Mark and Eduardo are getting it on with their new groupies in the men’s room of a bar. CLIMAX Mark exits the bathroom and notices Erica at a table with friends. He goes over to apologize for his blog/brag about his new creation. Erica is not impressed. She berates Mark for his childish and insulting behavior. Rejected once again, FALLING ACTION/RESOLUTION Mark decides to expand – Yale, Columbia and Stanford. GREEK CHORUS Doesn’t hate the twins. They’re angry because it’s the first time in their lives it didn’t work out how they wanted it to. EXPOSITION 80-83: The twins learn of Mark’s plan to expand. They debate once again on what to do about it. They decide to take it up with the school. 83-88: Sean Parker, infamous creator of Napster, learns about theFacebook after hooking up with a Stanford coed. He wants to meet Mark. RISING ACTION 88-95: The twins meet with the president of Harvard. He is dismissive of their complaints. He doesn’t consider it a school matter and underestimates the value of the website. Once he learns they got the meeting through their dad’s connections, he cuts it short. GREEK CHORUS 95-97: First deposition. Eduardo is describing his attempts to secure advertising for the site and how Mark sabotaged these efforts with his disinterest and arrogance. But Mark was excited for one meeting… RISING ACTION 97-106: Mark and Eduardo are in a trendy New York club. Sean Parker walks in and works the room like a rock star. Parker describes his experiences with Napster, highlighting his ups and downs, projecting his arrogance and paranoia. They all discuss Mark’s strategy for his site and the potential if they play it smart. Mark is enamored with Parker. CLIMAX Billion dollars is cool FALLING ACTION/RESOLUTION *car ride home; mark is on Sean’s side, not Edwardos GREEK CHORUS 107-111: First deposition. Mark’s lawyer brings up an article from the school newspaper in the early days of Facebook charging Eduardo with animal cruelty. We learn it was part of Eduardo’s pledge to join the club. In the deposition, Eduardo takes it as a personal attack from Mark. Terms Jeopardizing the company EXPOSITION 111-113: Mark tells Eduardo of his plans to move to Silicon Valley for the summer and secure funds from venture capitalists. Eduardo disagrees. He knows Parker is behind it and he wants to handle the business end. Mark uses Eduardo’s recent embarrassment to manipulate him into it. RISING ACTION 113-117: Mark is holding interviews for interns to take with him to California. The “interview” consists of an alcohol-fueled hacking competition. Eduardo is baffled by the display but gives Mark the money to fund his summer operation. At the deposition, Eduardo says he just wanted to be a team player. 117-124: The gang is partying in the new Palo Alto house. Parker shows up, Mark gives him the tour and explains that Eduardo stayed back east. CLIMAX Parker takes Mark out to a trendy club in San Francisco. He once again works his magic on Mark, convincing him that listening to Eduardo and selling out early would be a huge mistake. FALLING ACTION (RESOLUTION FOR TWINS) 124-129: The Winklevoss twins are at a rowing competition in England. After narrowly losing the race, they learn that Facebook has spread to the UK. Now they agree to go after Mark. FALLING ACTION 129-136: Eduardo shows up at the Palo Alto house to find Parker there. He learns Parker has been setting up meetings all over town. Mark tells Eduardo things are moving so fast, he needs to move to California or get left behind. Incredulous, Eduardo goes to the bank and freezes the company’s accounts. 136-143: Mark and Parker secure $500,000 from an investor. In New York, Eduardo is in the middle of a fight with his crazy girlfriend when Mark calls. Mark berates him for freezing the account, but tells him the good news and to come back to California for the transition. RESOLUTION 143-146: At the new offices, Eduardo signs the legal documents and learns of the new arrangement. GREEK CHORUS At the deposition, we learn this was Eduardo’s undoing. He admits his mistake but claims he couldn’t believe his best friend would do that to him. EXPOSITION *You gotta come back RISING ACTION Parker recruits Mark to use his new-found status to get back at an old enemy. CLIMAX 147-154: Eduardo returns to California for the millionth-member party and a mysterious business meeting. At the office, he is greeted by lawyers and taken to a conference room where he learns his stock in Facebook has been rendered valueless. He storms out to confront Mark, who ignores him. Eduardo causes a scene and threatens to sue. Parker has him removed by security. Parker and Mark watch as Facebook membership hits a million. *Mark scolds Sean; CEO bitch business cards kept hidden from Sean; Sean talks about party with an intern. FALLING ACTION 154-160: Parker is partying hard at a sorority house. He is in a bedroom with some girls, drinking and doing cocaine. Parker won’t shut up about the future of Facebook, but the cops show up and catch him white-handed. Parker calls Mark to tell him the news, paranoid that someone set him up. Mark is calm, explains he will come up with a plan to deal with the fallout. RESOLUTION 160-164: Mark is alone with his lawyer in the deposition room. She tells Mark he needs to settle for the good of the company. Given the events, she explains it won’t be hard to paint Mark as a cut-throat villain who intentionally sabotaged the Winklevoss twins, Eduardo and Sean Parker. *“Not an asshole, Mark. You’re just trying so hard to be.” She leaves Mark alone. He goes on Facebook to send a friend request to Erica and waits for her response.

One thing I'm in awe of for this script/movie is how one scene/reel flows from one to another. two examples: 1.) The twins, "This is our guy"...cut to them saying their names across the table of Mark...cut to Mark's name being introduced at the Ad Board. 2.)Edwardo saying to this g/f, "I'm breaking up with you"...cuts back to Mark looking into the house as Sean, Dustin, and girls celebrate...cut to Edwardo signing the papers

This is a brilliant sequence breakdown.

Clever, economical approach to the sequence breakdown. I learned a lot from this.

jem, excellent work. A different take on 'sequence' compared to PaulG, yet demonstrates the value of this tool, both for analysis and crafting a story. It's malleable which speaks to the organic nature of story, as compared to arbitrary formulas which can stifle creativity. Your iteration addresses the point that Paul made: That Sorkin included so MANY cliffhangers, one could argue there are numerous other sequences than the movie reel approach he took. One of the values of this take, jem, is it reflects that rat-a-tat-tat 'action' approach Sorkin took to structuring the narrative. Apart from a handful of longer scenes, most notably the opening, the scenes and sets of scenes come quickly at us. That is relative, of course. This is a Sorkin drama, not Fast and Furious. But still, the narrative punches right along and the sheer number of sequences you lay out here visualizes that. Again great work - and thanks!