How To Cite A Film Title In An Essay

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In citing film and other media, use the citation form for the format in which you watched the work being cited. For example:

If you watched the film Casablanca on DVD and wish to cite it, use the citation format for DVD (not the film original).

If you watched Casablanca in a movie theater, use citation format for film.

If you are citing a documentary or program that you watched on DVD/videotape, but which was originally broadcast on television, use the citation format for DVD/videotape.

If you are citing a trailer for a theatrical movie that you watched on the internet, use the citation format for online resources.

Include the following elements in the following order. Include as much information as is available from the media package or other sources. If you are citing the contribution of a particular performer or the director of a work, you may choose to include the person's name first in the citation (last name, first name)

You may include other data that seem pertinent, such as writer of screenplay or writer of work upon which the film is based, depending on the focus of your research.

DVD, Video or Film Title (italics)

Series Title (no italics or quotation marks)

Director/Filmmaker OR Personal Producer OR Corporate/Institutional Producer.

Other individuals responsible for the work (e.g., writer) if relevant

Key Actors or other Key Performers.

If the work being cited is the original format (i.e. if you've viewed the film in a theater), cite the Studio Name OR Production Company followed by production date ORoriginal release date (If known)

Format (if the version you're citing is video or DVD)

Distributor (i.e. DVD or video distributor)

Distribution Date (separated from the distributor by a comma)

Examples:

Film:

Citizen Kane. Dir. Orson Welles. Perfs. Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten. RKO Radio Pictures, 1941.

Fahrenheit 9/11. Dir. Michael Moore. Lions Gate Films, 2006.

Film, citing a contributor first:

Kazan, Elia, dir. On the Waterfront. Perfs. Marlon Brando, Lee J. Cobb, Rod Steiger, Eva Marie Saint. Columbia Pictures Corporation, 1954.

Karloff, Boris, perf. Frankenstein. Dir. James Whale. Perfs. Boris Karloff, Colin Clive, Mae Clark. Universal Pictures, 1931.

Gore, Al, perf. An Inconvenient Truth. Dir. Davis Guggenheim. Lawrence Bender Productions, 2006.

Rozsa, Miklos, comp. Spellbound. Dir. Alfred Hitchcock. Perfs. Ingrid Bergman, Gregory Peck. United Artists, 1945.

DVD/Videorecording:

Breathless (À Bout de Souffle). Dir. Jean-Luc Godard. Perfs. Jean-Paul Belmondo, Jean Seberg, Liliane David. 1960. DVD. Criterion Collection, 2007.

Frankenstein. Dir. James Whale. Perfs. Boris Karloff, Colin Clive, Mae Clark. 1931. DVD. Universal Pictures, 2006.

America's Least Wanted . Prod. Rebecca Haggerty, Susan Levine, Jamie McClelland, Adele Rice and Jaime Yassin. Videocassette. Paper Tiger TV, 1995.

Story of Change. Prod. UNICEF. Filmed and edited by, Byron Blunt. Videocassette. Nairobi, Kenya: UNICEF, 1998.

DVD/Videorecording, citing a contributor first:

Schrader, Paul, writer. Taxi Driver. Dir. Martin Scorsese. Perfs. Robert De Niro, Jodie Foster. 1976. DVD. Columbia TriStar Home Video, 1999.

Brooks, Albert, perf. Taxi Driver. Dir. Martin Scorsese. Perfs. Robert De Niro, Jodie Foster. 1976. DVD. Columbia TriStar Home Video, 1999.

Wexler, Haskell, cinematographer. Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? . Dir. Mike Nichols. Perfs. Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, George Segal, Sandy Dennis. 1966. DVD. Warner Home Video, 2006.

Faulkner, William, screenplay. To Have and Have Not. Based on the novel by Ernest Hemingway. Dir. Howard Hawks. Perfs. Humphrey Bogart, Walter Brennan, Lauren Bacall. 1945. DVD. Warner Home Video, 2003.

Hemingway, Ernest. To Have and Have Not. Screenplay by William Faulkner. Dir. Howard Hawks. Perfs. Humphrey Bogart, Walter Brennan, Lauren Bacall. 1945. DVD. Warner Home Video, 2003.

DVD/Videorecording, citing additional information about the work or the particular release.

Metropolis. Dir. Fritz Lang. Perfs. Gustav Fröhlich, Brigitte Helm, Alfred Abel. 1926. DVD. Restored authorized edition; digitally remastered. Kino International Corporation, 2002.

Man with a Movie Camera (Chelovek s kinoapparatom). Dir. Dziga Vertov. Original music composed and performed by the Alloy Orchestra. 1929. DVD. Kino International Corporation, 1997.

Mindwalk. Based on the book "The Turning Point" by Fritjof Capra. Dir. Bernt Amadeus Capra. Perfs. Liv Ullman, Sam Waterston, John Heard, Ione Skye. DVD Paramount Pictures, 2000.

DVD/Videorecording, citing supplementary material contained on disc:

"Making of the Mutuals" (supplmentary visual essay by Sam Gill). The Chaplin Mutuals. Volume 3. DVD. Image Entertainment, 1995.

"The Early Sound Era" (supplementary material on DVD release of The Jazz Singer). 2006 <cite the date the supplement was produced, if known>. DVD. Warner Home Video, 2007.

DVD/Videorecording of a work originally broadcast on television

Summer of Love. American Experience. Prod. and dir., Gail Dolgin & Vicente Franco. PBS. WGBH in association with KQED. DVD PBS Home Video, 2007.

Medicine at the Crossroads. Prod. 13/WNET and BBC TV. DVD. PBS Home Video, 1993.

"Bringing up Buster." Arrested Development (Season 1). Perfs. Alia Shawkat, David Cross, Jason Bateman, Jeffrey Tambor. DVD. Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, 2006.

"Ku Klux Klan: The Invisible Empire." CBS Reports. Prod. and dir. David Lowe. Correspondent: Charles Kuralt. 1982. DVD. Films for the Humanities & Sciences, 2002.

Capote, Truman. "A Christmas Memory." Hallmark Hall of Fame. Dir. Glenn Jordan. Perf. Patty Duke, Piper Laurie, Jeffrey DeMunn. 1997. DVD. Lions Gate, 2000.

DVD/Videorecording of a series originally broadcast on television. Citing installment in series:
  • Title of the episode in quotation marks.
  • Name of the series or program in italics.
  • Director, producer, other significant individuals involved
  • Publication medium (e.g. DVD).
  • Distributor, followed by date of the DVD (NOT the original broadcast)

    "The House We Live In." Race, The Power of an Illusion. Prod., Christine Herbes-Sommers; series prod., Larry Adelman. DVD. California Newsreel, 2003.

    Scorsese, Martin, Exec. Prod. "Feel like going home." Martin Scorsese Presents The Blues. DVD. Seattle, WA: Vulcan Productions, Inc.; Berlin: Road Movies Filmproduktion Gmbh, 2003.

    "When Things Get Tough." The War. Dir. Ken Burns. Prod. Florentine Films and WETA Washington D.C. DVD. PBS Home Video; Paramount Home Entertainment, 2007.

    "Ain't Scared of your Jails, 1960-1961." Eyes on the Prize: America's Civil Rights Years, 3. Prod. WGBH Boston; Blackhawk Films, 1986. DVD. PBS Video, 2006.

    Single Performance, Music Videos, and Other Single Work as part of longer DVD, Video, or Film

    "Official War Film W.F. 13." World War II Films. Prod. US Office of War Information. 1943. DVD. Earthstation1.com, 2007.
    or, if emphasizing issuing agency:

    US Office of War Information. "Official War Film W.F. 13." World War II Films. 1943. DVD. Earthstation1.com, 2007.

    Cage, John. "Chess Serenade: For Piano." The Works for Piano. John Cage. Vol. 7. DVD. Mode Productions, 2006

    Calloway, Cab. "Hi-de-ho." Best of Jazz and Blues. 1933. DVD. Kino on Video, c2001.

    The Chemical Brothers. The Work of Director Michel Gondry. DVD. Palm Pictures, 2003.

    "Lindy Hop (1937)." Perf, Mama Lu Parks' Jazz Dancers. Dance Black America. Videocassette. Dance Horizons Video, 1990.

    or, if emphasizing the performers:

    Mama Lu Parks' Jazz Dancers. "Lindy Hop (1937)." Dance Black America. Videocassette. Dance Horizons Video, 1990.

    • Television and Radio

    Include the following elements in the following order.

    Title of episode or segment (if appropriate. In quotes)

    Title of program (italics)

    Title of series (if appropriate. No quotes or underline)

    Producer, Director, Performers, Writer (if known. Inclusion and order depends on emphasis)

    Network

    Local Affiliate and the city

    Date of Broadcast

    Examples :

    Woody Allen: A Documentary. American Masters. Dir. and prod., Robert Weide. PBS. WNET, Channel 13. 10 Feb. 2012.
    Racism 101. Prod. Thomas Lennon. PBS. KQED, San Francisco. 5 Oct. 1988.

    White House Prayer Breakfast. Al Gore (Introduction), Bill Clinton (Address), Rev. Gerald Mann (Closing prayer), Rabbi Alan Cohen (Interview)." C-SPAN, Washington, D.C. 11 Sept. 1998.

    "Torture." Narr. Scott Pelley. Sixty Minutes. CBS. WCBS, New York. 30 March 2008.

    "War Against Iraq Begins." Narr. Peter Jennings, Ted Koppel. Nightline. ABC. KGO, San Francisco, 16 Jan. 1991.

    "Car Crash on I-80." Ten O'clock News. KNBC, Los Angeles. 16 Jan. 1991.

    "The Arsenal of Democracy." The Great Depression; 7. Prod. Blackside, Inc.; Exec Prod Henry Hampton. WGBH, Boston. 1 Mar. 1993.

    Afghanistan: the Great Game. NPR, Washington, D.C. 8 Feb. 1980.

    "Mumia Abu Jamal: 15th Anniversary of His Arrest." Democracy Now. Pacifica. KPFA-FM, Berkeley, CA. 9 Dec. 1996.

    "Trash of the Titans." The Simpsons, Season 9. Dir. Jim Reardon, Mark Kirkland, et al. Voices: Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright, Yeardley Smith, Hank Azaria, Harry Shearer. CBS. KPIX, San Francisco. 10 September 2006.

    "Emerging Tigers." Narr. Ress Jones. Prod. John Hawke. Asian Business Report. PBS. WEFT, New York. 15 August 1990.

    For advertisements and other broadcasts without a fixed programming schedule, you may chose to include the time of the broadcast:

    Levi Strauss Co. Levi Dockers Advertisement. Aired 10:35pm. CBS. KPIX, San Francisco. 5 August 1999.

    Broadcast Interviews

    Order and punctuation:

    Interviewee (last name first). Interviewer. Title of the program. Network. Local Affiliate, City. Date of Broadcast.

    Examples:

    Clinton, Bill. Interview with Larry King. Larry King Live. CNN. 24 June 2004.

    Cain, Bruce E. Interview. Ten O'Clock News. CBS. KPIX, San Francisco. 10 October 2007.

    Depp, Johnny. Interview with James Lipton. Inside the Actors Studio. PBS. KQED, San Francisco. 7 April 2008.

    Web Other Online Media

    Author's Last Name, First Name OR Corporate/Institutional Author Name <if known>

    Title of Document or File

    Document date OR date of last revision

    Medium (e.g. Online video clip)

    Title of larger web site in which clip is located

    Name of hosting library or agency (if appropriate).

    Access Date

    URL <web address>

    Examples:

    Lucasfilm, Ltd. "Star Wars Trailer." 05 November 1999. Online video clip. Star Wars Official Site. Accessed on 02 April 2008. <http://starwars.com/episode-i/news/trailer/>

    "Daughter Turns Dad In." CNN Video. Online video clip. CNN.com Accessed on 04 April 2008. <http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/crime/2008/04/02/dnt.oh.drunk.driver.dad.wnwo>

    "Free Speech Movement: The Cartop Ralley, Oct. 1-2, 1964." 05 August 1999. Online audio clip. UC Berkeley Library Social Activism Sound Recording Project: The Free Speech Movement and Its Legacy. University of California at Berkeley. Library, Media Resources Center. Accessed on 02 April 2008. <http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/VideoTest/pacificabd0016.02e.xdm>

    "Gene Map of Brain Offers Hope for Alzheimer's, Autism." 29 Nov. 2006. Webcast. The News Hour with Jim Lehrer. PBS. KQED, San Francisco. Accessed on 02 December 2006

    Simply put: no.

    APA's Publication Manual (2010) indicates that, in the body of your paper, you should use italics for the titles of:

    • books
    • periodicals (journals, magazines, newspapers)
    • films
    • videos
    • TV shows
    • Microfilm publications

    Beyond APA's specific examples, know that certain types of titles are almost always written in italics. 

    Use italics in a word-processed document for the types of titles you'd underline if you were writing by hand.  A general rule of thumb is that within the text of a paper, italicize the title of complete works but put quotation marks around titles of parts within a complete work. 

    The table below isn't comprehensive, but it's a good starting point

    Titles in ItalicsTitles Placed in "Quotation Marks"
    Title of a periodical (magazine, journal, newspaper)              Title of article in a periodical
    Title of a book   Title of a chapter in a book
    Title of a movie or playName of an act or scene in a movie or a play
    Title of a television or radio series   Title of an episode within a tv or radio series
    Title of a musical album or CDTitle of a song
    Title of a long poemTitle of a short poem
    Names of operas or long musical composition
    Names of paintings and sculptures

    Title of a short story

    On an APA-style reference page, the rules for titles are a little different.  In short, a title you would italicize within the body of a paper will also be italicized on a reference page.  However, a title you'd place in quotation marks within the body of the paper (such as the title of an article within a journal) will be written in normal lettering and will not be in quotation marks.

    Here are some examples:

    Smith (2001) research is fully described in the Journal of Higher Education.

    Smith's (2001) article "College Admissions See Increase" was published in the Journal of Higher Education after his pivotal study on the admissions process.

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