Katy Jackson

The Social Network Trailer Analysis

This trailer particularly grabbed my attention due to the unconventional start of it. It also
helped by the fact that Jesse Eisenberg is in it (an e.g. of the me - the consumer - being drawn
to a trailer simply by a marquee name). As well as this it's one of my favourite films. The
genre is biography, drama and it's based on the social network site 'Facebook' and the story
behind it. I'm not going for a biography element in the genre of my film but I believe it will
be well worth-while to analyse a trailer that does.

Settings/Locations
The first 54 seconds of the trailer have no location as it
simply shows shots of pictures and icons being used (as a
mouse icon is seen moving) on the site 'Facebook'. Various
pictures on Facebook are shown of people in different
places allowing the audience to grasp possibly how many
people use this site as the photos are from lots of places in
the world.
At 0:53 the trailer then takes us to 'Havard University
Fall 2003'. It is at this point that the location is
established and the audience can see what year the film
is set in giving them an initial grasp on when Facebook
may have started (or at least definitely the time before
it started). Jesse Eisenberg is swiftly shown in other
areas at university (his room, a bar, a cinema, etc.).
This if anything foreshadows his social networking in the
future as he's already going to lots of places and although he's
only seen with a couple of people he is still out in these
locations with the desire to be accepted socially.
As the trailer progresses, so does the locations. Eisenberg
after launching his first site is seen at more sociable situations
with larger crowds of people. In contrast to this the audience
sees other people from Havard in their stereotypical
locations (e.g. a Havard common room) along with locations
where Eisenberg and the other people from Havard are
present in more of a formal situation. This situation/location
is much more formal as Eisenberg is being sued for stealing
their idea when he created Facebook.
All of these locations become intertwined as the trailer continues giving the audience a bit
more narrative to entice them to want to see the full
film. The final location is Eisenberg sitting at a
table in a room with other people also sitting at the
same table. It is clear he is in some kind of meeting
to do with the legal actions being taken upon him.
The audience is left with some of Eisenberg's
arrogance (which is portrayed in a slightly comedic

Katy Jackson

way) as he asks for 'some recognition from the board' and when a woman on the opposite side
of the room says she doesn't understand he simply replies saying 'which part?' as if it was all
incredibly easy to understand.

Characters
Jesse Eisenberg plays the main character in this
film (Mark Zuckerberg) who could either be
perceived as an antagonist or protagonist
depending on who you side with in the argument
of who created 'Facebook'. Obviously it's not as
simple as that and his character has traits that make
him likeable but also not so likeable therefore
allowing the audience to create their own opinion
of him. This makes for a more interesting trailer as
him as a person seems unusual and clever and not just the situation itself.
Other characters are shown. The other point I feel that is worth mentioning is how there are a
large number of stock characters surrounding him, especially once he is successful as he goes
to more sociable places.

Genre Iconography & Themes

The trailer gives an outline of the journey Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) goes through
which not only gives a sense of the film itself being a biography as he just seems like a
normal person but also shows his struggles which is an aspect of the genre drama.

Sound
Various sound is used (diegetic, non-diegetic, incidental music, ambient sounds, etc.) The
ambient sounds are really important as they make the trailer seem more like an actual
biography which is what the film is almost trying to be like (although they've obviously
recreated the situations).
Non-diegetic music is heard at the start as
'Facebook' is being shown. The lyrics of the
song tie in cleverly with what is being shown
on screen. For example, after the lyrics 'I
wanna have control' the cursor is shown
clicking on 'Add as Friend' since when using
Facebook you have control in choosing who to
be friends with. This marriage of sound and
visual makes the trailer a lot more engaging
from the beginning.

Lighting
The lighting used in this trailer a lot of the time is quite minimal. Some artificial lighting is
used to highlight parts of the characters face(s) but this is unlikely to be a 3 point system as
lots of the shots show darkness on one side of the location or character. This makes the

Katy Jackson

locations and situations seem more real (typical of a biography) as in real life locations are
not lit up well enough to be filmed.
A lot of back lighting is used (example shown on the
left) where the director has carefully decided to have
light situated in places that would be expected in the
rooms themselves. This makes the audience see them
as actual lights for the room at not lighting for the film
(reinforcing a sense of professionalism).

Contrasting lighting shots can be seen to the right. This

proves that in a trailer the same style of lighting is not stuck
to as it allows for more engaged viewing if the location
(and therefore lighting) changes to give the audience
something new to take in.

Editing
This trailer is edited very well. The shots of Facebook at the start are edited perfectly to fit
with the incidental music (as I mentioned before in this analysis).
Continuity editing is used briefly in some places to show relationships and some dialogue
between characters however conventionally non-continuity (montage) editing is present the
most in the trailer (for the obvious reasons that I have mentioned in previous analysis').

Typography
The typography of this trailer is very conventional of drama trailers. Simple, white font (all in
capitals) on a black background are shown for the first time about three quarters of the way
through the trailer. These inter-titles do not tell us anything about the film in terms of
marquee names or reviews on the film. It only hints at the narrative of the film, that through
getting loads of friends, a few enemies will also be made.

The final title is in a presented in a similar way (as it has a black background). However, the
main difference is that it presents the words 'the social network' in the
style/typography/colours that 'facebook' uses. This is very effective and reminds audience
members who use Facebook what the film is partly about.