How to Cite a Movie in Chicago/Turabian Style: A Detailed Guide & Examples

Citing a movie Chicago can be an actually exciting thing. After all, they are a unique source of information in writing. In any kind of investigation in Humanities, some scenes or passages from film can be relevant in references and suitable to the subject area studied. Whether you are a professional essay writer or a student, it is useful to keep track of basic rules in Chicago and Turabian citation styles.

With our guideline and visual example, you will find it easy and available to cite in your publication or academic essay. Considering the peculiar approach of these styles, you will simply get to know how to provide bibliography and notes accurately. Are you already wondering how? Stay with us and keep going to the next sections.

Movie industry has plenty of additional and helpful data for students and academics to do specific research, so Chicago citation film is essential. And Chicago or Turabian styles are the most commonly used. But often, writers get confused when citing movies and choosing style, whether Chicago or Turabian. So what is the difference between them?

Generally, they include the same formatting structure and entry elements. The main difference is found within these positions:

When it comes to Chicago style citation movie, students and researchers often get confused with where to find necessary information for citation a movie. It is recommended to use official sites of online movies.

Whatever platform is used, writers can find relevant data on the page of selected movie. For example, on IMDb, at the top of movie page, such entry elements are mentioned as Movie Title, Publication Date, movie format, and duration. Likewise, underneath a screen, director(s) and production company are highlighted. Accordingly, one should pick up data needed for a particular movie citation. Which are they? Consider them in the next section.

This section discloses principal rules on how to cite a movie in Chicago Turabian style. Nowadays, the modern world has access to all movies they want online. Thus, URL reference to a movie is mentioned in citation. Also, this style involves two formatting systems like author-date and notes-bibliography. So, we will pass through each case and provide appropriate examples.

Notes-bibliography style involves full notes, short notes, and general bibliography. The last has the same structure as in author-date reference. Although, use Year in the position of General format.

Full note features the same entry elements but in another order and formulation. Production Company and Year are in parentheses divided by comma. Each element is separated by commas and a description finishes with a period.  

Remember to put a number before full note and short note citation. Short note is a shortened form of full note and contains two elements separated by comma. Look at the following formulas:

If you need to better understand how to cite film in Notes-Bibliography using an example, we've got you covered:

When watching a film in physical format, students or researchers should follow the rules on citing a film Chicago. Accordingly, additional information is inserted into general formats mentioned above: physical format (DVD, Blu-ray, etc.). It is added to bibliography and notes.

Physical release year can differ from the original theatrical release. In this case, it should be given in bibliography entry. Full note format is the same. Original Release Year should be also given before Production Company. Divided it by semicolon. The format of short note is unchangeable, and Film Format isn’t specified. Here are formulas:

Here, we can take a look at several examples of citing a film in physical format:

Watching documentaries allows enriching a research experience, so how to cite a documentary Chicago is relevant. Citation format is equal to citing a film. Instead of Director, Author of documentary can be mentioned. Also, Place of Publication is added. 

If a documentary is available online, URL address is inserted. Is it viewed in its physical format? Then it should be mentioned instead of URL in references.

Full note and short note have the same structure as in the previous section when citing a documentary. Here are formulas:

Below you can find several examples of Chicago citations for documentary films.  

The same reference structure is utilized for citing a video and one would understand how to cite a film in Chicago paper format. There are different online movie platforms like Youtube. There, almost everything can be found for any purpose. Thus, only an element “Youtube video” is added as medium. Look at formulas:

If you need to cite a movie from Youtube, we suggest that you look up following examples:

But do not mix it up with the Chicago citation YouTube video. This citation has its guide and we created a separate blog for it.

Besides Youtube channel, there are different streaming services to get access to films, and Chicago style movie citation is applicable here. One of the most popular streaming websites is Netflix. And citation reference from Netflix keeps the same format reflected in the previous section. Instead of medium, website name is mentioned. The same addition is considered in full note and short note. Look at formulas:

Citing movies from streaming platforms is quite similar to other citations in Chicago. Take a look at proper formatting and examples that we have collected:

When finding an appropriate TV show for a research paper, Chicago film citation is applied as well. The entry structure is very similar. But considering the features of TV shows, some elements can be added. These are number of season, episode, and title of an episode.

The additional elements are reflected in full note with a particular order. If Episode Duration is not pointed in bibliography, then short note includes only TV Show Title and Episode Title (see formulas below).

Take a look at these examples:

Author-date style is another system in guideline of how to cite a movie Chicago/ Turabian. According to the author date Chicago style, reference list and in-text citation are provided from selected data.

The name of movie is italicized, and the complete reference ends with a period after URL.

In-text citation involves three positions taken in parentheses: Director’s Last Name, Year, and timestamp (if necessary). There is no comma between the 1st and 2nd positions. Look at the following formulas:

Here we have several examples of a proper citation of a movie for your better understanding:

When a film is cited in a physical format, this parameter is inserted in the format of Chicago citation movie. Entry elements are structured in the same order where physical format replaces URL. This parameter isn’t mentioned when citing in text. The in-text format repeats the same information as in the previous section.

Take a look at these examples:

You will definitely produce original work or research papers if you are skilled in citing a movie Chicago/ Turabian. Movie is a kind of source information utilized in writing. Quotes or phrases extracted from it should be cited properly by keeping respective rules. This will prevent you from plagiarism, organize your work accurately and worthy. Thanks to our manual, you will become citation savvy.