Split screens. Collages made of moving images. We see them so much on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube nowadays that they seem a useful modern invention. However, this notion is incorrect. Split screens have existed since almost the beginning of cinema and are – above all – a mighty tool in the editor’s kit. What are they at the core? A fancy stylistic choice? A magic trick to enhance suspense? A chance to tell a story from different perspectives? Let’s take a look at a vast collection of examples, from classic masterpieces to contemporary series, and find out. The truth is: In knowing hands, split screens in films can follow different goals. They are an editing technique, after all, and as with every technique, they require intention. Why do you decide to put two or more shots on the same screen simultaneously? What effect should it create? How it started If you are interested in visual effects and divine tricks filmmakers have come up with throughout cinema history, you are definitely familiar with the French silent short “The Four Troublesome Heads” by Georges Méliès. It runs for about 50 seconds and was released as far back as 1898: Obviously, the audience was stoked and considered this trick nothing short of a wonder. Méliès featured one of the first known uses of the multiple exposure of objects on film. Of course, it’s not something that we would strictly call a “split screen” nowadays, but the underlying idea is the same. The filmmaker...
Published By: CineD - Yesterday