History Main / SplitScreen

[[caption-width-right:350:Somehow, I don't think they're in the same city.]]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Split_Screen_Small.JPG]]

See also: SplitScreenReaction

%%* ''WesternAnimation/YinYangYo'' tends to use this for the twins' combat scenes so viewers can see what's happening to both of them at once.

This way, you have your cake and eat it too: You can have your explosion and the reactions to it all in one shot, or you can see both sides of a [[SplitScreenPhoneCall telephone conversation.]] Alternatively, you can use it to show only loosely related events that happen to be going on at the same time, such as in ''Series/TwentyFour'' or the ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4'' example below.

[[caption-width-right:350:Somehow, I don't think they're in the same city]]

[[folder:Advertising]]
* A staple of television from the Golden Age onward has been commercials where two consumers are shown in split-screen, one that uses the inferior BrandX and the other that uses the advertised product. At least as common is the [[ParodiedTrope parodied version]] where the actors are actually side by side on a set that is split vertically into two visually distinct halves to give the illusion of a split screen. Such a commercial often ends with the user of the advertised product handing it across the "split" to the other person.
[[/folder]]

* What episode of ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' ''doesn't'' have this? They even have a dedicated sound effect for this.
* In one of the earlier episodes of ''Anime/LuckyStar'', they show a day in the life of the twins on with this. It gets a little disorienting when they're together...

* Used in ''Manga/Golgo13'', mainly in ''[[TheMovie The Professional]]'', ''[[OriginalVideoAnimation Queen Bee]]'', and the anime series.

* Lampshaded, of course, in ''[[WebVideo/YuGiOhTheAbridgedSeries Yu-Gi-Oh!: The Abridged Movie]]''. Kaiba leaps up on top of his dragon monster to give a speech, but Yami Yugi just shouts that he can't hear Kaiba at that distance. Once the split screen shows up, Kaiba asks "There, is this better?" to which Yami Yugi responds, "Oh, a split screen. Yeah, that's much better."

[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirlsFriendshipGames'': A lot are used in the "ACADECA" song for the academic competition, to show the numerous participants or close-up on some details of the contests. This also starts with a blatant case of FrameBreak by Sour Sweet.
[[/folder]]

* ''Suspense'' (1913), the possible UrExample, shows a wife [[SplitScreenPhoneCall attempting to call her husband]] while a tramp (in a third portion of the screen)is seen trying to break into the house.
* The TropeMaker is believed to be the 1958 film ''Indiscreet'', when the lead actors are getting intimate in bed. Interestingly, it was a way of GettingCrapPastTheRadar for the film's makers.

* Creator/JohnFrankenheimer used it to maximum effect in 1966's ''Film/GrandPrix''.

* In ''Film/JackieBrown'', split screen is used when [[spoiler:Jackie (Pam Grier) steals a gun from Max's (Robert Forster) car in order to protect herself from Ordell (Samuel L. Jackson). The split screen shows that Max discovers that his gun is missing from the glove compartment at the same moment that Jackie uses it to threaten Ordell.]] Jim Smith's book ''Tarantino'' (Virgin Film Guides) describes this as "a non-gimmicky and entirely story appropriate use of split screen - which might be a first".
* Tarantino uses it again in ''Film/KillBill'', showing the Bride lying unconscious in the hospital and Elle Driver heading to her room disguised as a nurse in order to kill her.

* An entire movie, ''Wicked, Wicked'' (1973), was filmed in "Duo-Vision" (split screen).
* Used brilliantly in ''Film/RequiemForADream'' in a love scene between Marion and Harry.
* Used throughout the film ''Conversations with Other Women''. One part of the screen usually shows the female lead, and the other the male lead (and sometimes other characters); the split screen is also sometimes used to show different periods. [[spoiler: Only the last shot doesn't make use of a split screen, showing the two main characters together...even though we've been showed that they were apart.]] It's all very well-done though, and not gimmicky.
* {{Lampshaded}} in ''Film/AirplaneIITheSequel''. When President Reagan is talking to the Commissioner, he says to go use this trope and it happens.
* Director Creator/BrianDePalma uses split screens in many of his movies, including ''Film/{{Sisters|1973}}'', ''Film/{{Carrie|1976}}'', ''Film/PhantomOfTheParadise''.
* Used extensively in the documentary about ''Film/{{Woodstock}}'', in an effort to get as much of the action from the three-day festival onscreen as possible.

* Taken to a comical level of absurdity at the end of ''Film/TheLastRemakeOfBeauGeste'', when Beau and Digby Geste [[spoiler:do their PinkySwear grip, over a distance of hundreds of miles, while cuddled up with their respective lovers - Digby and Isabel on the lawn of their BigFancyHouse, and Beau and Flavia on the beach at the French Riviera.]]
* Wildly experimental Soviet film ''Film/ManWithAMovieCamera'' uses this over and over again. Mismatched shots of trolley cars in the streets, a shot of a man lifting weights that cuts out the middle part of his body, a shot of a city square where the screen splits in two and the two sides rotate in opposite directions.
* Used seamlessly in ''Film/DeadRingers'' to turn Creator/JeremyIrons into [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3yzvOijCvE#t=1602 identical twins]].

* Used several times in ''Film/{{Napoleon}}'', such as the pillow fight scene when the screen splits in ''nine'', but most notably in the famous Triptych sequence.

* ''Series/{{Spooks}}'' and ''Series/TwentyFour'' both had this effect as a signature of their styles.
* ''Series/CSIMiami'' has started using those for lab sequences.
* ''Series/{{Coupling}}'' and ''Series/MalcolmInTheMiddle'' have both had episodes using this throughout, bar framing sequences at the beginning and end.
* ''Series/{{Sanctuary}}'' uses this quite frequently to compress sequences instead of using a {{montage}}. The split-screen method is somewhat similar to that used in Ang Lee's ''Film/{{Hulk}}'' (mentioned above), which gives these sequences a (possibly unintentional) comic book vibe.
* It was a recurring element in ''Series/That70sShow''.
* ''Series/UniversityChallenge'' sits the teams next to each other, but shows them one above the other in the broadcast via split-screen so both can be seen on screen at once (though from 1985-87 they were actually seated one on top of another). A few teams have played with this, such as an all-male team at the bottom who kept looking up at the all-female team on top as if they could see up their skirts, or a team at the top who threw paper balls from their desks which would "disappear" into thin air on TV. ''Series/TheYoungOnes'' episode "Bambi" lampooned it by seating the teams one on top of another back when the real show was still using split-screen, which Vyvyan exploited by kicking the contestant's head below him.
* Used on ''Series/TopGear'', when two presenters (in separate cars) are on the phone to each other (if a HardCut from one to the other is not used instead)
* ''Series/TheAmazingRace'' started using split screens in season 14 to segue between scenes.
* ''Series/ThePriceIsRight'' has a split screen that is very memorable among fans. From when the hour-long format became permanent in November 1975 to sometime in 1996, when a contestant spun the Showcase Showdown wheel, a split screen would show as the wheel slowed down with a headshot of the contestant inside of an arrow graphic that pointed to the wheel on the left side, and the wheel on the right.

* ''Series/GetSmart'' has screen split into three parts - see episode with an airplane in season 4.

* Parodied in ''Series/SledgeHammer'', when Hammer calls a pipe-smoking British cop for information; the cloud of smoke spills into the American half of the split screen from six thousand miles away [[note]]It's never explicitly said which city would accept Hammer as a cop; but even to Brits the location filming can only be in California[[/note]]. This leads to Hammer and Doreau coughing and spluttering uncontrollably.
* ''Series/{{Run On}}'' uses a long split screen in its pilot episode t's how the contrasting levels of order in each main character's life
* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}''. Used twice in "The Girl With The Dungeons And Dragons Tattoo" when Charlie Bradbury turns up for work, showing both her and the security guard watching her arrive. The first time, she's happily listening to the music on her headphones, the second time she's tense because she's infiltrating the BigBad's office, so there's SinisterSurveillance involved in the security guard's attentions (it's also used to show Sam and Dean [[SpiesInAVan waiting in a van]] as MissionControl).
* The 1975 revival of the game show ''Series/YouDontSay'' used a split screen when the celebrities gave clues and the contestants responding to them. Also effected in the bonus round with the contestants giving clues and the celebrities responding.
* On ''Series/PressYourLuck'', when it was down to the final spin of the final player with spins still remaining, a split screen on the big board would show both that player and the player who would either be the winner if they whammied out, or who was in the lead if the player taking the spin wasn't in the lead. If they picked up an additional spin, then the split screen would continue into the next spin. Otherwise, the split screen would slide away to show only the contestant who had won. Also, the spinning contestant whammied, no whammy animation would be played; they would just clear away the split screen and go directly to the winner.

* Metallica's concert video, S&M2, makes use of the split screen on three songs.

[[folder:Puppet Shows]]
* This technique is used to show all parties on the phone call in the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihvgdjMqEYA "Hello Doctor" song]] on ''Series/BearInTheBigBlueHouse''.

[[folder:Theatre]]
* The theatrical equivalent of this is "split scene", where two scenes are shown at once, sometimes with the spotlight alternating between the two.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Theme Parks]]
* At Ride/UniversalStudios:
** The pre-shows for the defunct ''Ride/EarthquakeTheBigOne'' used three split screens to show the "destruction" of Los Angeles by an earthquake.
** The former ''Ride/TwisterRideItOut'' attraction used the split screen format entirely throughout its first pre-show, showing different scenes on each one.
[[/folder]]

* Almost goes without saying, but many multiplayer video games (particularly set-top games, which often lack networking capabilities) use a split screen.
* The possible TropeMaker or UrExample for video games is 1977's ''Drag Race'' from Kee Games.
* The {{Trope Codifier}}s for video games are believed to be Epyx's ''Pitstop II'' and Bally Midway's ''Max RPM'', both from the mid-1980s.
* ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4'' used this very well in two different scenes. The first occurs when you play Snake and fight off a horde of Gekkos, while Raiden keeps Vamp busy in a sword duel. While the Gekkos demand your full attention and you're unable to take more than a few peeks at Raiden's half of the screen, it works extremely well in [[NoFourthWall evoking the feeling that you're playing the game with another player]]. A second instance occurs later in the game when [[spoiler: Snake is crawling through the infamous microwave corridor. This time the controls are extremely simple which allows you to take a good look at the action in the upper half of the screen, which shows Snake's allies getting completely ripped apart while they are trying to buy him a minute or two more to reach his goal.]]

* Along with this, ''VideoGame/HeavyRain'' utilises these extensively (both games being made the same company), especially for tense scenes.
* The bonus chapter of ''Cadenza 2: Kiss of Death'' uses one when a cop calls the chapter's main character to report an apparent kidnapping, again when the kidnap victim's mother mentions finding blood in his room and when the "victim" tells how he faked the kidnapping to get away from his criminal mother.
* ''Cadenza 3: Havana Nights'' uses one when the Havana police enter Club Diamante while the falsely-accused main character is escaping from it.
* ''Series/TheLoveBoat'' uses one when Ronald shows up in a rowboat off Cabo San Lucas and asks Jenny to leave the ship.

[[folder:Web Comics]]
* Imitated in comics, like in [[http://the-qlc.com/loserz/go/275 this]] ''Webcomic/{{Loserz}}'' strip. (Although here, we're rather talking about panels.)
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Videos]]
* In ''WebVideo/DrHorriblesSingAlongBlog'', done twice with Billy/Horrible and Penny singing in duet. In "My Eyes", they were just on opposite sides of a convenient wall. "So They Say" uses a more conventional version of this.
* ''WebVideo/TheMusicVideoShow'' uses this every episode.
[[/folder]]

* Cartoons often subvert this, especially the phone call variant, by having a character reach across the divide.

* ''WesternAnimation/YinYangYo'' tends to use this for the twins' combat scenes so viewers can see what's happening to both of them at once.

* ''WesternAnimation/VoltronLegendaryDefender'' utilises this for the main cast, with a combination of SplitScreenReaction and SplitScreenPhoneCall (For voice communications with each other). It makes sense, as it ''is'' a show with many scenes where they are piloting mechanical lions that can combine into a HumongousMecha, and the use of split-screens is a good way to show the character's faces all at the same time. The animators like to have fun with this trope too, having the "Panels" slide into the scene at different times, sometimes with another one sliding in between them whenever a character who was previously quiet suddenly talks.
* ''WesternAnimation/InfinityTrain'' uses this in the first episode of the fourth season to show how two characters lives have diverged
* Used for dramatic effect in the ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse''-episode "Change Your Mind". [[spoiler: When White Diamond pulls Steven's [[HeartDrive gem]] out of his stomach, the screen splits through the middle. One half shows the [[POVCam first-person perspective]] of the now gem-less Steven. The other is completely dark until the gem forms another, pink Steven, whose perspective takes up that half.]]

* The {{TropeCodifier}}s for video games are believed to be Epyx's ''Pitstop II'' and Bally Midway's ''Max RPM'', both from the mid-1980s.

* The TropeCodifiers for video games are believed to be Epyx's ''Pitstop II'' and Bally Midway's ''Max RPM'', both from the mid-1980s.

* Among the earliest video game examples were Epyx's ''Pitstop II'' and Bally Midway's ''Max RPM'', both from the mid-1980s.

* The 1963 movie ''A New Kind of Love'' used vertical split-screen to underscore parallels between a fashion show (attended by the female lead) and a simultaneously happening burlesque show (attended by the male lead). Then it used horizontal split-screen to show in one frame the male lead peacefully sleeping, and in another frame, the female lead tossing and turning with frustration. The [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything implications]] of Paul Newman being on the top (of the shot) have got to be purely intentional.

* ''Suspense'' (1913), the possible UrExample, shows a wife [[SplitScreenPhoneCall attempting to call her husband]] while a tramp (in a third portion of the screen)is seen trying to break into the house.

* ''Film/APlaceToStand'': This short film, a visual collage of life in 1967 Ontario, made heavy use of constantly shifting, changing split screens, sometimes fitting as many as 15 images on the screen. The film actually packs an hour and a half of footage into a 17-minute short. Besides the constantly shifting, irregularly shaped frames that make up the split screen, frames sometimes move around the screen. For example, a little frame showing a farmer on his tractor moves clear across the screen from left to right. Chapman's revolutionary use of split screen has been called the "[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multi-dynamic_image_technique Multi-dynamic image technique]]."

''Western Animation/Infinity Train''uses this in the first episode of the fourth season to show how two characters lives have diverged

* ''Series/{{Coupling}}'' and ''Series/MalcolmInTheMiddle'' have both had episodes using SplitScreen throughout, bar framing sequences at the beginning and end.

* In ''WebVideo/DrHorriblesSingAlongBlog'', done twice with Billy/Horrible and Penny singing in duet. In "My Eyes", they were just on opposite sides of a convenient wall. "So They Say" uses a more conventional SplitScreen.

* ''WesternAnimation/YinYangYo'' tends to SplitScreen for the twins' combat scenes so viewers can see what's happening to both of them at once.

* {{Lampshaded}} in ''Film/AirplaneIITheSequel''. When President Reagan is talking to the Commissioner, he says to go SplitScreen (and it does).

* In one of the earlier episodes of ''Anime/LuckyStar'', they show a day in the life of the twins on SplitScreen. It gets a little disorienting when they're together...

* What episode of ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' ''doesn't'' have this?
** They even have a dedicated sound effect for this.

* Used in ''Manga/{{Golgo 13}}'', mainly in ''[[TheMovie The Professional]]'', ''[[OriginalVideoAnimation Queen Bee]]'', and the anime series.

[[folder:Film]]

* The 1963 movie ''A New Kind of Love'' used vertical split-screen to underscore parallels between a fashion show (attended by the female lead) and a simultaneously happening burlesque show (attended by the male lead).
** Then it used horizontal split-screen to show in one frame the male lead peacefully sleeping, and in another frame, the female lead tossing and turning with frustration. The [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything implications]] of Paul Newman being on the top (of the shot) have got to be purely intentional.

* Used in several scenes in ''Film/MoreAmericanGraffiti''

* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirlsFriendshipGames'': A lot are used in the "ACADECA" song for the academic competition, to show the numerous participants or close-up on some details of the contests. This also starts with a blatant case of FrameBreak by Sour Sweet.

* ''Series/{{Spooks}}'' and ''[[Series/TwentyFour 24]]'' both had this effect as a signature of their styles.

[[folder:Music Video]]

[[folder:Theater]]

* A rare example in ''VideoGame/{{Fahrenheit}}'' (A.k.a. ''Indigo Prophecy''). Split screens were used usually whenever there was a scene where the main character had to do something quickly before a villain found them.
** Along with this, ''VideoGame/HeavyRain'' utilises these extensively (Both games being made the same company), especially for tense scenes.

[[folder:Web Original]]
* Lampshaded, of course, in ''[[WebVideo/YuGiOhTheAbridgedSeries Yu-Gi-Oh!: The Abridged Movie]]''. Kaiba leaps up on top of his dragon monster to give a speech, but Yami Yugi just shouts that he can't hear Kaiba at that distance. Once the split screen shows up, Kaiba asks "There, is this better?" to which Yami Yugi responds, "Oh, a split screen. Yeah, that's much better."
* WebVideo/TheMusicVideoShow uses this every episode.

* Split screen is used in ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'' episode "Identity Crisis" where Danny, having split himself--one fun, one super--goes about their given tasks at the same time.

* Used for dramatic effect in the ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse''-episode "Change Your Mind". [[spoiler: When White Diamond pulls Steven's [[HeartDrive gem]] out of his stomach, the screen splits through the middle. One half shows the perspective of the now gem-less Steven, the other is completely dark until the gem forms another, pink Steven, whose perspective takes up that half.]]

* University Challenge.
** Averted by lampooning the above in ''Series/TheYoungOnes'' episode "Bambi". [[spoiler:No, it's not a split-screen camera-trick, the contestants are actually arranged one o' top the other. As Vyvyan proved by stamping on the contestant's head, below him.]]