Contre le split-screen. Autopsie d’un artifice

Abstract

Almost as old as cinema itself, the split-screen – in which the filmic frame is divided into several parts – is one of the most prominent stylistic figures in 24, but is often used only to enhance the writing modes that are specific to cinema: alternate editing and shots/reverse shots are swallowed by the frame; link shots are evened out; framing choices are toned down; the different images are automatically reduced to one temporality only, etc. Through the division of images and the alteration of their ‘readability’ with confusing or defamiliarizing effects, the split screen stands as one of the preferred tools to create a certain kind of narrative sadism, which contributes to the series’ originality and to the viewing pleasure it provides.

Keywords

• split screen
• framing
• editing
• off-camera
• aesthetics
• acousmêtre