The timeless split-screen effect is a quick and easy way to tell multiple stories at once.
Cover image via Orange83.
Creating the split-screen effect is as classic as film itself. This effect works when you’re trying to visualize two separate stories happening at the same time — while telling the same story in a quicker, more energized manner. The example in the tutorial below calls back to season two of the FX show Fargo. The split-screen is an excellent way to grab your audience’s attention and keep the pace of your video energetic.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEy11KgeiPs
The process is simple. For a vertical two-screen split, take your two individual clips and create a new sequence. Once you’ve cut the clips down to two individual clips of the same length, stack the second clip on top of the first.
Since each clip is full sized, you’ll need to crop the left and the right side of each clip by 25 percent, so go to Video Effects > Transform > Crop and then enter 25 for the left and right. To do this, you’ll see the Position option under “Video Effects.” This will allow you to drag the clip around the preview window as much as you’d like. Once you’ve done this, you’ll be able to drag the clip on top to the left or right — and vise versa for the clip underneath (on your timeline).
To add a different colored bar between the screens, add a Title to your project. The rest is as easy as choosing the line tool, drawing a line between the clips, and then customizing the line however you see fit. You can change the width, color, and shape all within the Title tool window.
Next, we learn how to create the uneven split screen that we see at the beginning of the video. First, use all the clips in your timeline (in this case he uses three clips), make sure they’re the same length, and stack them on top of each other. Then, open up Video Effects > Transitions > Linear Wipe and apply the wipe to the second and third tracks on your timeline. Then select the third track, go to Video Effects > Scale and set the scale to 75%. Then, you’ll move the clip to whichever side of the frame you want. Follow the same steps for the second clip.
Then, we’ll go back to the third clip and set the Transition Completion under the “Linear Wipe” effect to 40%. After that, you’ll change the Wipe Angle to whichever angle fits your vision. Once you’ve applied this same effect to the second clip, you can now add the bars from the title tool like we did before. Voila!