# How long did that "split screen showing several shots at once" movie thing last? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 10, 2002, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-that-split-screen-showing-several-shots-at-once-movie-thing-last/131742 "2002-10-10T22:57:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2002, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-that-split-screen-showing-several-shots-at-once-movie-thing-last/131742/1 "2002-10-10T22:57:42Z")
Watching _The Longest Yard_ the other night, I was once again irritated by that split screen thing that was popular for a few years. Example: Whole screen is devoted to one shot, then that screen moves into its own landscape window at the bottom, then two more portrait windows open at the top showing different reactions to the bottom window, etc. I can also think of _Bullitt_, _Charlie Varrick_ and _The Thomas Crown Affair_ that all did this, the latter being the worst offender. I recall one shot of Steve McQueen on a polo horse split into something like 75 tiny windows. Ugh. So, how many movies used this gimmick? Can we list them? It stopped pretty abruptly too - was there a public backlash that caused everyone to stop doing it? How long did it last? What was the first/last movie\* to do it? \*I realize there have been recent movies using this as gimmick (_Timecode_) or homage (_Ocean’s Eleven_) - I mean what was the last movie to do it back when it was commonplace. ---
**Author:** ![widdershins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f0a364/32.png) [@widdershins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/widdershins)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2002, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-that-split-screen-showing-several-shots-at-once-movie-thing-last/131742/2 "2002-10-11T00:45:09Z")
It seems to have been a 70s thing and mostly died out by the early 80s. I’ve always been rather fond of the technique, personally, at least when it is used well. Robert Aldrich (who also directed _The Longest Yard_) used it rather effectively during a missile launch sequence in the 1977 thriller _Twilight’s Last Gleaming_. The movie is okay, but the sequence is worth watching to see splitscreen used well. I’m sure others can think of later films to use it. I remember a 1996 TV or cable movie called _Mistrial_ with Bill Pullman that used it, but very badly. ---
**Author:** ![grendel72](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/91b2a8/32.png) [@grendel72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grendel72)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2002, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-that-split-screen-showing-several-shots-at-once-movie-thing-last/131742/3 "2002-10-11T01:02:53Z")
Brian DePalma’s movie Sisters was the very best ever use of the split screen technique. Just felt the need to say that, for some reason. ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2002, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-that-split-screen-showing-several-shots-at-once-movie-thing-last/131742/4 "2002-10-11T01:50:15Z")
I seem to recall John Frankenheimer’s _ **Grand Prix** _ (1966) being the first time I ever saw it done. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2002, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-that-split-screen-showing-several-shots-at-once-movie-thing-last/131742/5 "2002-10-11T01:53:55Z")
I remember that [The Pillow Book](http://us.imdb.com/Title?0114134) used something like this. ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2002, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-that-split-screen-showing-several-shots-at-once-movie-thing-last/131742/6 "2002-10-11T02:02:52Z")
I may be misunderstanding, but is this the technique used on the series **24**? ---
**Author:** ![SolGrundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbce88/32.png) [@SolGrundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SolGrundy)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2002, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-that-split-screen-showing-several-shots-at-once-movie-thing-last/131742/7 "2002-10-11T02:04:01Z")
Salon magazine published [a pretty interesting article about the technique](http://archive.salon.com/ent/tv/feature/2002/05/14/24_split/index.html) a while back. Personally, I think it’s a cool gimmick when used well. I didn’t like it in _Carrie_, because it just jumped out and drew attention to itself. ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2002, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-that-split-screen-showing-several-shots-at-once-movie-thing-last/131742/8 "2002-10-11T02:07:39Z")
I think the movie _The Boston Strangler_ started this trend. You see it in a lot of late 1960’s, early 1970’s movies. The documentary _Woodstock_ used it very effectively, and I think it was used in several caper-type movies where it could effectively show a plan going down on several fronts, but it was also used for no particular reason in movies such as _Airport_. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Cheatem\_Undhow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/13edae/32.png) [@Dewey\_Cheatem\_Undhow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Cheatem_Undhow)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2002, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-that-split-screen-showing-several-shots-at-once-movie-thing-last/131742/9 "2002-10-11T03:50:46Z")
Wasn’t this also used recently during the game sequences in the abysmal Pacino football flick _Any Given Sunday_? Or am I misremembering? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2002, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-that-split-screen-showing-several-shots-at-once-movie-thing-last/131742/10 "2002-10-11T04:22:02Z")
One of the Austin Powers movies used it. ---
**Author:** ![jackelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@jackelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackelope)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2002, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-that-split-screen-showing-several-shots-at-once-movie-thing-last/131742/11 "2002-10-11T08:02:06Z")
Don’t forget 2000’s _[Timecode](http://us.imdb.com/Details?0220100)_, in which the entire film is shot in one take from four cameras following four “stories” (sort of). Each camera gets one quadrant of the screen for the entire film, with no cuts at all. Interesting and grand experiment, pulled off pretty well I thought. Not a great film, but certainly an admirable attempt at an almost unworkable concept. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2002, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-that-split-screen-showing-several-shots-at-once-movie-thing-last/131742/12 "2002-10-11T12:04:04Z")
It was used in **Charly** , too, back in the 60s. And Brian de Palma used it in **Dressed to Kill** in the 80s. ---
**Author:** ![Legomancer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/779978/32.png) [@Legomancer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Legomancer)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2002, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-that-split-screen-showing-several-shots-at-once-movie-thing-last/131742/13 "2002-10-11T12:40:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jackelope \* > \*\*Don’t forget 2000’s _[Timecode](http://us.imdb.com/Details?0220100)_, in which the entire film is shot in one take from four cameras following four “stories” (sort of). Each camera gets one quadrant of the screen for the entire film, with no cuts at all. Interesting and grand experiment, pulled off pretty well I thought. Not a great film, but certainly an admirable attempt at an almost unworkable concept. \*\* This was what I thought about when I saw the title. Timecode, as you said, wasn’t a good film at all - I think it collapses under the weight of it’s own gimmicks (in addition to being four stories simultaneously - none of which are overly interesting - there’s a lot of improv, and it shows). Still, it’s a neat concept. I think you could make a really cool Aliens-ripoff movie using this technique, following different folks through the abandoned spaceship or whatever as they’re hunted by the creatures. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2002, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-that-split-screen-showing-several-shots-at-once-movie-thing-last/131742/14 "2002-10-11T12:57:17Z")
. . . Eve saunters in to mention that the same split-screen approach was used in Abel Gance’s _Napoleon_ (1927) and a very early (c1910) silent movie who’s name I can’t remember right now. ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2002, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-that-split-screen-showing-several-shots-at-once-movie-thing-last/131742/15 "2002-10-11T13:49:27Z")
> [@](#): > > And Brian de Palma used it in Dressed to Kill in the 80s. De Palma used the technique pretty effectively in _Carrie_, too. It worked because it wasn’t used at all until the deadly prom scene, so it had more impact. ---
**Author:** ![Legomancer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/779978/32.png) [@Legomancer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Legomancer)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2002, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-that-split-screen-showing-several-shots-at-once-movie-thing-last/131742/16 "2002-10-11T14:44:41Z")
Also wanted to point out “More American Graffiti” as another movie using this technique. I figure no one mentioned it because I’m the only person who saw it. ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2002, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-that-split-screen-showing-several-shots-at-once-movie-thing-last/131742/17 "2002-10-11T16:24:04Z")
_A Boy Named Charlie Brown_, the first theatrical Peanuts cartoon, had a number of these scenes. It also sounds like _Timecode_ would be the theatrical equivalent of David Macaulay’s Caldecott Medal-winning book _Black and White_. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Some\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ad7895/32.png) [@Just\_Some\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Some_Guy)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2002, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-that-split-screen-showing-several-shots-at-once-movie-thing-last/131742/18 "2002-10-11T16:38:40Z")
SDMB Thread from October 11, 2032 - **"How long did that “freeze frame and then spin around the character” movie thing last?"** ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2002, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-that-split-screen-showing-several-shots-at-once-movie-thing-last/131742/20 "2002-10-11T19:11:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jackelope \* > **Don’t forget 2000’s _Timecode_, in which the entire film is shot in one take from four cameras following four “stories” (sort of).** I didn’t - I mentioned it in the OP. 🙂 So, sounds like although it was used as early as 1927, it became really popular following the IBM exhibit in 1964. I’d still like to know if there’s a reason why it sort of petered out in the late 70’s… ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2002, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-that-split-screen-showing-several-shots-at-once-movie-thing-last/131742/21 "2002-10-11T20:22:28Z")
It was also used by Stephen Frears in the 90’s flick _The Grifters._ So it’s not entirely dead. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-that-split-screen-showing-several-shots-at-once-movie-thing-last/131742.md?page=2)