There is a surprising amount of material that can fall under the heading of ‘film’. The most conventional would be your feature length films, which are dead easy. This can also mean home movies, TikTok videos, and things found on YouTube, which may seem tricky but are easily adapted with a few simple additions.
The basic film reference assumes films are a static medium, like a printed book, so that the film will be the same no matter which copy you watch. With items found online, the medium is no longer static but can change or disappear over time, so you add the location of the item and the date of access in order to specifically reference the version you saw at that time. Also, with things like uploaded videos there isn’t necessarily a director who oversees the project and is ultimately responsible for the film as a product. Instead, you revert to citing the author/creator/uploader before the title of the work. Your references do not need to include time codes for the section of the film to which you are referring.
The basic information for referencing films is:
Title of Film, Directors Name (Film Studio, Year Released).
For more information on referencing recordings, see section 11.2.16 of the MHRA Style Guide.
Duck Soup, dir. by Leo McCarey (Universal Studios, 1933) [on DVD].
Love Simon, dir. by Greg Berlanti (20th Century Fox, 2018), online film recording, Netflix < https://www.netflix.com/gb/> [accessed 20 May 2021].
BFI (British Film Institute), Mädchen in Uniform - Women & Sexuality in Weimar Cinema: BFI video essay, online video recording, YouTube, 3 March 2021, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvaE2SPvwfE> [accessed 20 May 2021]
‘Title of Episode’, Title of Series, Where you saw it, date uploaded <url> [accessed date].
‘Episode 9 – Single and Happyish’, The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, Pemberly Digital, 7 May 2012 < http://www.pemberleydigital.com/episode-9-single-and-happyish/> [20 May 2020].
Author Name, Title of Play, Director’s Name, Play Company (Theatre Name, Location), Date of Performance, format.
William Shakespeare, Pericles Prince of Tyre, dir. by David Thacker, Royal Shakespeare Company (The Swan, Stratford-upon-Avon), 6 September 1989 [on DVD].
William Shakespeare, Coriolanus, dir. By Angus Jackson, Royal Shakespeare Company (Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon), 15 September 2017, in Drama Online < www-dramaonlinelibrary-com > [Accessed on 20 May 2021].
‘Title of episode', Title of Podcast, Responsible body or creator, Date released.
'The Stepford Wives', You're Wrong About podcast, Michael Hobbs and Sarah Marshall, 24 August 2020.
'No Art and The Hatred of Poetry: Ben Lerner and Andrea Brady', London Review Bookshop Podcast, London Review of Books, 18 October 2016.