Why a Split Diopter is the Best Choice for Certain MINX scenes
We've talked before about how #Minx uses visual gags and split diopters, but this is a split diopter shot which leads directly into to a visual gag. Why so much visual information of different types in quick succession?
First let’s look at some of the Minx splits and gags in Season 2, and see how they’re used and to what effect.
SPLITS
Two vintage looks which perfectly fits a show about 70s magazines, photography, sex, queer identity, and relationships of every kind:
Joyce tapping away in the foreground while Doug stews and paces in the background;
Bambi watching Richie as Richie puts on makeup. It's a lovely shot / moment which shows us Bambi's love and admiration for Richie, while giving us a closeup of what she's seeing, while also keeping clear Richie is in his own little world.
The above is in the same episode as the “Joyce’s split with handbag,” the focus of this post.
GAGS
The set dressing gags are delightful, from split fruits to visualise what dirty thoughts Bambi is having about Shelly, to rolling pins as dicks - look, it’s not necessarily a subtle show.
Speaking of unsubtle, this is the gag which immediately follows Joyce knocking:
First the plant appears to be a cheeky 'modesty prop', a moment later it's clear it was being used to hide the professor who pops out from behind it, then of course you realise it's a verbal/visual gag for bush/bush. Not necessarily in that order, depending how your mind works.
But anyways WHY THE SPLIT you ask. Yell, almost.
OK! Never let it be said we don’t give the people what they want.
This split lets us see Joyce knocking, but also shows us up-close something she has missed, or at least not paid close enough attention to: Shelly’s handbag with some of her clothing thrown over it. If this were a cutaway shot, we might assume Joyce had seen it, and thus the intrusion was intentional.
You could do different things with tracking Joyce and/or racking to the handbag, but this shot takes probably less time to light and set up, and can hold on both Joyce and the Bag for a decent amount of time to let us digest all the information . . . before we realise OH NO! just as Joyce busts in on the sexy scene above.
A split diopter, deployed with intent, tells a lot of a story.