As a stagehand I have a lot of experience "behind the scenes." I noticed Joe Biden's effective use of himself (for want of a better word) to force the director into a split screen for the majority of the debate.
A director with a national event such as the debate will not want to miss a single thing, then again, talking heads are boring. I am positive that some of the rules of the debate said you can only have a single shot, framed at half body and blah blah blah to the satisfaction of both campaigns. What's a director to do? Well Biden gave him the answer. He gave him good TV to put on. Joe not only used his arms, but was thrashing the air with them to make his points, then he couldn't sit still. Through hand and face gestures, movements in the chair, reaching across or down the table, and shifting back and forth literally forced the director to keep Joe live in a split screen, because the director suddenly had a show that wasn't just a talking head, He had good TV and he Doesn't. Want. To. Miss. Anything.
As the debate progressed, and the camera lingered on Ryan, Biden suddenly moved, or started to say something, and the camera went right back to him either by himself or in split screen. A lot of questions that Biden answered were just a picture of Biden talking, because Ryan hardly interrupted. When Ryan answered questions, as soon as possible the screen went to a split with both Biden and Ryan, because the director didn't want to miss Biden throwing up his hands in the air, or something else just as newsworthy.
Biden showed himself a staging master by making the director's best interest keeping the camera tuned on him "On Air" for the majority of the debate. I don't know if he understands that he was manipulating the director or not, but it was masterful.
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