Filming
Filming
Principal photography began in October 2009 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Scenes were filmed around the campuses of two Massachusetts prep schools, Phillips Academy and Milton Academy. Additional scenes were filmed on the campus of Wheelock College, which was set up to be Harvard's campus, as well as locations on and around the campus of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore (Harvard has turned down most requests for on-location filming ever since the filming of Love Story (1970), which caused significant physical damage to trees on campus.) Filming took place on the Keyser and Wyman quadrangles in the Homewood campus of Johns Hopkins University from November 2–4, which also doubled for Harvard in the film. The first scene in the film, where Zuckerberg is with his girlfriend, took 99 takes to finish. The film was shot on the Red One digital cinema camera. The rowing scenes with the Winklevoss brothers were filmed at Community Rowing Inc. in Newton, Massachusetts and at the Henley Royal Regatta; miniature faking process was used in a sequence showing a rowing event at the latter. Although a significant portion of the latter half of the film is set in Silicon Valley, the filmmakers opted to shoot those scenes in Los Angeles and Pasadena.[citation needed]
Armie Hammer, who portrayed the Winklevoss twins, acted alongside body double Josh Pence while his scenes were filmed. His face was later digitally grafted onto Pence's face during post-production, while other scenes used split-screen photography. Pence was concerned about having no face time during the role, but after considerable musing thought of the role as a "no-brainer". He also appears in a cameo role elsewhere in the film. Hammer states that director David Fincher "likes to push himself and likes to push technology" and is "one of the most technologically minded guys I've ever seen." This included sending the actors to "twin boot camp" for 10 months to learn everything about the Winklevosses.
Rowing production
Community Rowing Inc. held a casting call and a tryout for 20 rowing extras; some were graduates from Harvard, Northeastern University, Boston University, George Washington University, and Trinity College, as well as local club rowers from Union Boat Club and Riverside Boat Club. None of the cast rowing extras for the Henley Royal Regatta racing scene appeared in the film; filming for the race was originally planned to take place in Los Angeles, but Fincher decided to film in England during production.
David Fincher hired Loyola Marymount coach Dawn Reagan to help train Josh Pence and Armie Hammer. While Hammer was new to the sport, Pence rowed previously at Dartmouth College.
The indoor rowing scene was filmed at Boston University's indoor rowing tanks. All of BU's blue oars in the scene were repainted to Harvard's crimson color for filming. Dan Boyne was the official rowing consultant in the US and the UK.
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- ^ "Facebook Movie Shoots on Campus" Archived September 22, 2015, at the Wayback Machine. Phillips Academy. 2009. Retrieved November 3, 2009.
- ^ "Major motion picture filmed at Wheelock" Archived May 27, 2010, at the Wayback Machine. Wheelock College. October 19, 2009. Retrieved March 20, 2010.
- ^ Sragow, Michael (September 30, 2010). "Where to spot Baltimore in 'The Social Network'". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved March 21, 2025.
- ^ Schwartz, Nathaniel L. (September 21, 1999). "University, Hollywood Relationship Not Always a 'Love Story'". The Harvard Crimson. Archived from the original on March 3, 2012. Retrieved October 6, 2020.
- ^ O'Neill, Nick (November 2, 2009). "Pictures Of Today's Filming Of "The Social Network" At Johns Hopkins" Archived November 18, 2020, at the Wayback Machine. AllFacebook.com. Retrieved November 19, 2009.
- ^ "Hollywood crew arrives at Homewood for Facebook movie: Color us crimson" Archived January 19, 2021, at the Wayback Machine. November 3, 2009. The JHU Gazette. Retrieved November 3, 2009.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
NewYorkwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ O'Neill, Justin (October 15, 2009). ""The Social Network" Shot on RED – Royal Galactic Cinema". CameraRentalz.com. Archived from the original on October 24, 2009. Retrieved September 23, 2010.
- ^ McCarthy, Caroline (June 2, 2010). "Gossip: 'Social Network' filming will row across the pond". CNET. Archived from the original on October 5, 2010. Retrieved September 24, 2010.
- ^ "The Social Network in Henley and Windsor" Archived November 18, 2020, at the Wayback Machine. FilmDetail.com. September 29, 2010. Retrieved January 28, 2011.
- ^ a b Hesse, Monica (October 1, 2010). "'Social Network' twins played by unrelated men. The solution? Use only one face". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on July 7, 2012. Retrieved March 3, 2012.
- ^ Buchanan, Kyle (October 20, 2010). "The Social Network's Armie Hammer Talks Special Effects, Misogyny, and the Downside of Being Tall and Handsome". Vulture. Archived from the original on November 18, 2020. Retrieved January 15, 2011.
- ^ Boyne, Dan (October 6, 2010). "Rowing and the Art of the Social Network – Part III: Those Guys are Freakin' Fast". Row2k. Archived from the original on November 18, 2020. Retrieved April 30, 2011.
- ^ a b Boyne, Dan (October 18, 2010). "Rowing and the Art of the Social Network – Part VI: Trouble in the Tanks". Row2k. Archived from the original on November 18, 2020. Retrieved April 30, 2011.
- ^ a b Boyne, Dan (October 12, 2010). "Rowing and the Art of the Social Network – Part IV: The Actors Arrive". Row2k. Archived from the original on November 18, 2020. Retrieved April 30, 2011.