Film & Video
MLA:
American Beauty. Dir. Sam Mendes. Perf. Kevin Spacey, Annette Bening, Thora Birch,
[title.] [Dir. director.] [Perf. main performers.]
and Wes Bentley. Dreamworks, 1999. DVD. Dreamworks Video, 2000.
[film studio, release year.] [type of media.] [video distributor, release year.]APA:
Wlodkowski, S. J. (Producer), & Mendes, S. (Director). (1998). American Beauty
[producer & director, with titles.] [(year).] [title]
[Motion Picture]. United States: Dreamworks.
[[format.]] [production country: production company.]Chicago:
28. Mendes, American Beauty.
[fn. #.] [director last name, title.]
[Shortened Chicago reference; see More Notes on Chicago Style for more information.]
Conventions for citing film and video productions are less fixed than those for print and even many online sources. This ambiguity is caused in part by the group nature of such productions: even if you identify a writer, producer, or director, a performance almost never has the single authorship of a written text or single image. Your citation should always include the same basic elements (as described below), but their order can vary—especially concerning the first item listed.
A solid basic format includes title, director’s name, and the name of one or two lead performers. Also include the distributor and release date. If you’re working from a video or DVD, MLA style adds the word “Videocassette” or “DVD,” followed by the release date of the video.
MODIFIED FORMAT
Because academic essays may focus on different aspects of a film or television production, citation conventions can vary. This is especially true of MLA style, which will be more common in courses that ask you to analyze movies. If you focus primarily on one person’s work in the film, you may decide to list by that person’s name, followed by an abbreviation of their role. Then list the title and the rest of the information described above. (Example below in MLA style; adjust as needed for other styles.)
Spacey, Kevin, perf. American Beauty. Dir. Sam Mendes. Dreamworks, 1999. DVD. Dreamworks Video, 2000.
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