What The Social Network Opening Scene Teaches Screenwriters

The Social Network opening scene grips the audience into its world. It’s one of the most compelling examples of an opening scene in its use of quick dialogue, acute character set-up and rich conflict.

Written by the characteristically sharp Aaron Sorkin, The Social Network, as a whole, is a masterful exploration of clashing egos. It’s ultimately a brilliant character study, taking a look at what drives someone with ruthless ambition. And it’s the opening scene that lays this thematic purpose down brilliantly, starting the film off as it means to go on.

So what does The Social Network opening scene teach about writing a great opening scene? What can screenwriters glean from this brilliant set-up? We take a look.

Opening Shots – Starting Strong

The scene is relatively long (running at just over 5 minutes and around 9 pages) and has many ebbs and flows to it, changing in direction, tone and intention. But to start with, the scene lays down a clear marker of the film’s overall theme with its, and Mark’s, first line…

Did you know there are more people with genius IQ’s living in China than there are people of any kind living in the United States?

The theme of competition is immediately apparent, as is the theme of being at the top of the pile. Part of Mark’s next lines further accentuates this…

How do you distinguish yourself in a population of people who all got 1600 on their SAT’s?

Immediately, the audience’s attention is brought to the idea of standing out amidst a fiercely competitive environment. Welcome to the world of Harvard. Here, everyone is top of their class. So how do you stand out? This is Mark’s preoccupation and one that will define his character arc within the film. Immediately, the scene plunges us into the concerns of this world and of the protagonist at the heart of it.

Mark, however, has a pretty good answer for how to distinguish himself, or at least he thinks so…

Or I can get into a final club.

This will become a topic of conversation for the next few lines. Mark seemingly thinks this is his way into Harvard’s elite. Again, this exchange demonstrates the social hierarchy present at Harvard, thrusting the audience into this competitive and hierarchical world.

The conversation up to this point has been relatively jovial and pithy. But the conversation about final clubs quickly leads into the first point of conflict, and something deeply revealing about Mark’s debilitating ego.