Technique · Compare

Split screen

The frame split in two, with one picture in each half, so the viewer compares them directly instead of remembering one while looking at the other.

01 · Then

02 · The dividing line appears

03 · Then and now together

A split screen does the comparing for the viewer. Shown one after the other, two pictures ask the viewer to remember the first; shown together, the difference is plain in a second. It suits then and now, two rivals, or a claim set beside the record.

In a vertical 9:16 frame the split usually runs across the middle, one picture on top and one below, because two side-by-side halves would be very narrow. Each picture is framed so its key part sits near the center of its own half, and a thin line or a label marks which is which. A small move in one half can draw the eye there first.

The common mistake is putting the key detail where the app covers it. In a vertical feed the bottom of the frame sits under the caption and buttons, so the lower picture's subject can disappear. Check both halves against the safe zone, and keep the two pictures at a similar scale and angle so the comparison is fair.

When to use it

When the story turns on a difference: a street then and now, two products, two founders' choices, or what was promised beside what happened.

Motion instruction (example)

Both pictures hold still; a thin line draws across the middle, then the top half pushes in slowly on the old shopfront. 5 seconds. Keep both pictures unchanged. Move one half at a time, never both at once.

Last reviewed 15 October 2026.