The use of split screen has almost become a thing of the past. Filmmakers would use the effect to allow one actor to appear twice in a scene, thereby locking down the camera and shooting the scene twice, with one "version" of the actor appearing on the left side, and the other on the right side. The seam between the two splits was intended to be invisible, making the duplication seem realistic.

Film: Alfie

Film: Alfie

Several studio-made films in the 1960s popularized the use of split screen. They include Indiscreet (1958), John Frankenheimer's Grand Prix (1966), Richard Fleischer's The Boston Strangler (1968), Norman Jewison's The Thomas Crown Affair (1968), Airport (1970), Woodstock (1970), Carrie (1976) and More American Graffiti (1979). More recently, films such as Boogie Nights (1997), Adaptation (2002), The Rules of Attraction (2002), Down with Love (2003) and the New York-based film, Alfie (2004) have rekindled the split screen format, and midway through the 2004 remake there is also a visually creative sequence where the use of moving images as well as still photography are fused together to illustrate the events from Alfie’s passionate, but often turbulent love affair with his show-stopping-girlfriend Nikki played by model Sienna Miller.

Film: Alfie

Film: Alfie

Film: Alfie

Although there are black bars separating the images throughout the sequence, the actual arrangement is seamless and colourful. Charles Shyer, who directed the remake had a host of technicians to help create the special effects, as well as cinematographer Ashley Rowe and Padraic McKinley; director of photography film editing. Shyer’s previous directorial projects include Father of the Bride, I Love Trouble and Baby Boom.

Film: Alfie

Film: Alfie

Film: Alfie

Film: Alfie

Sienna Miller was fairly new the big screen when Alfie was released, only having appeared in two films, one of which was the British crime drama, Layer Cake alongside Daniel Craig, better known for his role as James Bond. Miller was born in New York City but moved to London with her family when she was just over a year old. Her mother, Josephine, is a former South African model, whilst her father, Edwin Miller, is an American banker turned Chinese art dealer. Miller has a sister, Savannah, and two half-brothers, Charles and Stephen. Miller attended Heathfield School, Ascot, a boarding school in Ascot, Berkshire, and later studied for a year at the Lee Strasberg Institute in New York City. She carries a British passport, and acquired her first driving licence in the U.S. Virgin Islands, as it was easier to qualify there, thus allowing her to drive in both the USA and UK.

Film: Alfie

Film: Alfie

Prior to her professional acting career, Miller worked as a photographic model. She signed with Tandy Anderson of Select Model Management London, and modelled for Coca-Cola, Italian Vogue, and posed topless in the 2003 Pirelli Calendar. Miller has also been closely associated with the style of fashion that became known as boho chic, much of which fashion followers noted was strikingly similar to the style of model Kate Moss. She signed a two-year contract with Pepe Jeans London; the jeans ad campaign first appeared in magazines March 2006. In February 2009, Hugo Boss Fragrances announced that Miller would be the new ambassador for their women's BOSS Orange women's perfume.

Film: Alfie

After the release of Alfie, Miller won the role of 1960s socialite and Andy Warhol's muse, Edie Sedgwick in Factory Girl. In the same year, she starred in the indie drama, Interview alongside Steve Buscemi. Both films were shot in New York City. Several films later and Sienna finally returned to New York to appear in the low-budget romantic comedy, A Case of You.