Perhaps because there’s not the same weekly deadline, movie scripts take him longer. Stuck on a bulletin board in his office are colored index cards that spell out the intricate structure of The Social Network, which alternates between depositions and the actions the depositions describe. Despite the volume of language in Sorkin’s script, Fincher had a way of making the snap-crackle-pop dialogue sound like regular conversation. “For the first scene,” Fincher told me, “I did 90 takes. I wanted to knock the ‘acting’ out of them. The actors should toss off the words like it’s their phone number.”
That technique is perfect for Sorkin’s style, which can be theatrical. “With most of my work, I haven’t needed to worry about the so-called truth,” Sorkin continued. “Our White House on West Wing was not like the real White House, but it needed to have the appearance of reality. With Social Network I was forced to care about the facts because there were legal consequences. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that everyone in this story believed their own story. They were alone in their conviction that their story was the only accurate one.” He paused. “That’s human nature. We all want love and respect,” Sorkin said. “That dream is the key to it all.”
