The Split Screen — The Ultimate Guide for Filmmakers

Filmmakers are always looking for ways to expand the boundaries of the frame and establish a unique visual palette. One of these ways is the use of the split screen. In this video, we'll examine various tactics for the technique and look at how they can be used to tell stories across an array of movies. It's some kind of weird split screen! Hey! This is the Ultimate Guide to Split Screen. Before we begin, be sure to subscribe and click the bell for more videos. And tell us in the comments which camera movements or techniques you'd like us to cover next. Now, let's get started. Let's play. A split screen is the combination of two or more shots presented simultaneously. The technique is nearly as old as cinema itself, and since the beginning, it has been used for a variety of effects. The technique can be categorized into two forms. The first of these is where audiences can clearly see a division between two or more images. The second is an invisible split screen, which combines two different shots or takes. The invisible split screen is most frequently used when an actor is playing multiple roles at once, coordinated through the careful editing of different takes. I meant to ask you, I need a cool way to kill people. Don't worry for my script. It can also be used to get the best performance from different actors in two different takes. Do you see any of your code on Facebook? David Fincher has used this technique. For example, a shot could be broken up like this. Now, you had the distinct pleasure of dating Nick Dunne for how long? Two magical years. Magical years. Wes Anderson employed an invisible split screen in The French Dispatch to pull off incredibly complex shots like this one. His editor, Andrew Weisblum, explains. So that shot is made up of maybe 15 splits. If I were to lay out for you all those ingredients, it's crazy. But it does make the shot work just so. The visible split screen, meanwhile, can be used for a variety of motivations. Let's look at these different approaches, starting with representing multiple perspectives. One reason for incorporating a split screen is to show one scene through a series of different perspectives. Drawing parallels or creating juxtapositions as a result. In this scene from Hobbs and Shaw, the split screen contrasts the lead character's morning routine side by side, further separated by two distinct color palettes. In this music video for Radiohead, the technique shows a stark difference between the lives of two children, amplifying the disparity between their economic situations. A split screen asks viewers to consider both the parallels and differences between images, a comparison which may not be as strong if edited in a more conventional form. It's romantic. By romantic, you mean while old-fashioned? No, by romantic, I mean romantic. The film, Conversations with Other Women, uses multiple perspectives to explore the relationship between two people, contrasting past and future events, visualizing the emotional separation between the two leads. You're not from around here, are you? You married? Yeah. No, I used to be, but not anymore. Happy? Happy enough. Good for you. It's good to be happy. That's so f***ing hard, you know? Multiple perspectives can also be used within one scene. In Carrie, Brian De Palma presents the climactic scene of destruction through multiple vantages at once. Rather than a standard shot-reverse shot setup, De Palma allows for action and reaction to be shown on screen simultaneously. The use of split screen makes Carrie's power seem omnipresent, while also amplifying the chaos of the scene, since the viewer too is overwhelmed with different frames to take in. Split screen perspectives can also show the internal experience of characters. Everything just comes together. In 500 Days of Summer, the technique is incorporated to juxtapose the expectations and reality for relationship in disarray. Annie Hall, meanwhile, uses split screen to show two conflicting perspectives. How often do you sleep together? Do you have sex often? Hardly ever, maybe three times a week. Constantly, I'd say three times a week. The scene uses a physically constructed set which mimics the effect, allowing for the actors' performances to find a rhythm in real time. The result is a sequence which juxtaposes both characters' perceptions of their relationship while maintaining a keen sense of comic timing. The incredible thing about it is I'm paying for her analysis, and she's making progress, and I'm getting screwed. I don't know, though. I mean, I feel so guilty because Alvy is paying for it, so, you know, so I do feel guilty. This scene also illustrates another use for split screens, informing character relationships. In addition to depicting multiple perspectives, split screens can inform the relationship between characters, bringing your subjects closer together by presenting them on screen simultaneously, even if they aren't actually in the same space. In It's Always Fair Weather, three old friends reminisce on the riff that has formed in their relationship through a triptych musical number. Despite their physical distance, we as an audience are able to see some harmony beginning to form. Their friendship is healing. All right, genius, what is this thing? Phone calls are one of the most prominent ways in which filmmakers use the split-screen technique, showing characters side-by-side despite their physical distance. Indiscreet incorporates one of the most famous examples of a split-screen phone call. Ten seconds late. Last night it was seven, the night before, five. The framing of the two characters makes it appear that they are lying in bed together despite being in separate rooms, heightening the intimacy between the two characters while working around the Hays Code's disproval of non-married couples shown in bed together. We are good for each other, my darling. We are, we are. Requiem for a Dream, meanwhile, shows two characters in a split-screen shot even though they're supposed to be in the same scene. I always thought you were the most beautiful girl I ever seen. This effect creates a disorienting, surreal sense of closeness, which also allows director Darren Aronofsky to insert close-ups and other cutaways while retaining the doubled screen. You know, somebody like you can really make things all right for me. You think? Yeah, me too. With the advent of new digital technology, filmmakers have experimented with incorporating video calls as a form of split-screen storytelling. With this technique, however, the characters are now able to see one another, opening up new possibilities for the form. In Unfriended, this is used for horror. Characters react to the scares happening in a separate frame. Ken? Ken? Ken! Now let's look at some creative uses of the split-screen. Throughout its history, filmmakers have experimented with the split-screen, pushing the boundaries of what it can do and how it can work. Sometimes, filmmakers will use the technique in montages. These types of montages allow for a large amount of visual information to be told quickly, often working with the soundtrack to operate efficiently and smoothly. Steven Soderbergh's Ocean series uses flashy editing which incorporates split-screens. This stylization conveys a degree of glamour and excitement, fitting for a film which follows ultra-suave characters in extravagant settings. Ang Lee's Hulk, meanwhile, uses multiple frames to emulate the feeling of comic book panels, paying homage to the source material. In Kill Bill, Quentin Tarantino uses a split-screen effect in a montage but has the two sides of his frame operating on different stylistic levels. The left side of the frame shows mostly stationary close-ups with limited, slow camera movements, while the right side cuts quickly and involves more camera movement and direct action. This contrast establishes a sense of suspense. This split-screen in Sisters also creates suspense. Brian De Palma uses two frames to show the detectives wasting time, while the body in question is disposed of. The split-screen can also be used to literally expand the boundaries of the frame. Abel Gantz's 1927 historical epic Napoleon uses three projectors at once to create an ultra-wide screen experience. Gantz also employed color tinting to emulate the colors of the French flag. How the West Was Won, meanwhile, uses a variation of the invisible split-screen technique to project an ultra-wide image in Cinerama, combining three shots to emphasize the great expanse of the West. Cineramas were shot on three cameras with 27mm lenses, which most closely aligned with the focal length of the human eye. The cameras were attached to a rig so that their spacing remained constant. The footage was then projected using three projectors on a curved screen, creating an immersive panoramic frame. The documentary film Woodstock employs split-screen sequences to visualize the music being performed. This approach emulated the stereophonic sound technology of the late 60s, which spread instrumentation over two speakers, creating a more dimensional sound. Mike Figgis' Time Code is a film presented through four channels for its entire runtime. The shots overlap visually, and attention is primarily directed using audio, which is often prioritized for one frame over the others. This experimental use of split-screen emphasizes the multiple distinct storylines occurring at once, and encourages the audience to find hidden details in the frames. The use of a split diopter can serve similar purposes to a split screen. Created through lensing that presents different depths of field simultaneously, a split diopter shot can show us multiple planes of action. In the remake of Suspiria, the split diopter allows us to see both action and reaction occurring in the foreground and background, giving an unsettling feeling to the shot and linking the characters together. There may be distance between them now, but soon they'll become much closer. Split-screen effects are a key tool for filmmakers looking to incorporate inventive visual storytelling. They can be used to duplicate actors or combine takes, to show a scene through two or more unique perspectives, or to show different characters together despite physical distance. All of these methods can be used to evoke juxtapositions which couldn't be replicated through more conventional editing. Complex techniques such as split-screen require a lot of planning, and there's no better way to start planning your next shoot than with StudioBinder's storyboard software. Click the link in the description to get started. We could go on, but we gotta split.