If you’re writing a paper about a movie, you may be required to use the title. Perhaps you’re taking a Film Studies course and want to use a popular quote from a movie. In any case, the movie title will be italicized and the name of the scene or DVD chapter will be written in quotation marks. For example, the film Titanic will have “I’m flying” as a quote. Similarly, the TV show name will be italicized, and this makes it easy for you to use.
Italicizing movie titles
Most writers agree that italicizing movie titles in an essay will draw attention to them. This style is used to set the title of a movie or television show apart from the rest of the sentence and make it clear that the words in the title belong to the title alone. The exception is if the title is a short film, such as a movie under half an hour or a segment of a larger one. There is no hard and fast rule for italicizing movie titles in an essay, and there are some exceptions to this style, especially in newswriting.
Generating a good title
The title of a film is an essential part of the overall story, so it’s crucial to create a powerful one. Your title should not be too obscure, or so ambiguous that it’s difficult to judge what it’s all about. You can use the same methods to create a title for a romance or action film. Whatever the genre of your film, the title should reflect the overall essence of the film. It should leave your audience guessing about the plot, and give them a glimpse of what they can expect.
APA style
In writing a paper, APA style requires that you capitalize any word with four letters or more. This includes proper nouns and the first word of the movie title. Additionally, the style requires that you write the movie title in quotes. However, the rules for quoting within quotes still apply. Therefore, make sure to follow these guidelines if you want your paper to be formatted correctly. Read on to learn more about how to write a movie title in APA style.
Chicago style
How to write a movie title in Chicago-style format includes the director and the film’s name. For shorter works, the title is enclosed in quotation marks, while the full title should appear in bold. In addition, the formal name of the broadcast channel is capitalized, as is the author’s name. For book titles, the author and the title are both capitalized. You can use both italics and underlines to highlight key points.
MLA style
Citing a movie in MLA style means listing the title of the film, the director, the production company, and the year of release. Sometimes the title of a film can be as simple as “Point of No Return.” In this case, it is important to note that the film differs from the original French film in some ways. You can also highlight a particular contributor to the film or cite a streaming service.
Other styles
There are different ways to cite a movie title in an essay. Chicago, MLA, and APA styles each have specific guidelines for how to cite a movie title. Generally, movie titles should be italicized, but you can also write them in lower case. To avoid confusing your readers, you should capitalize the first letter of the title when citing a movie in APA, MLA, or Chicago styles.