Film, video, gaming and apps
You may need to consult more than one section to accurately represent the source used (eg. number of authors and source descriptions)
-
Film/DVD/Video
Example - in text citation
In their film Fargo (2000), the Coen Brothers presented ….
OR
...the directors discuss their place within Hollywood (Broomfield and Dolezal 2017).
Format for reference list
Elements, punctuation & capitalisation
Title of Production. Year. Directed by Director/s. Place of publication: Publisher. Medium/URL.
OR
Director (Surname, First name), dir. Year. Title of Production. Place of publication: Publisher. Medium/URL.
Example - reference list
Fargo. 2000. Directed by Joel and Ethan Coen. Santa Monica, CA: MGM Home Entertainment. DVD.
OR
Broomfield, Nick and Rudi Dolezal, dir. 2017. Whitney: Can I Be Me. Lafayette Films. https://www.netflix.com/title/80176176.
Style notes for this reference type
- See Manual 15.57, 14.265 and Turabian 19.10.3.1.
- The order of the citation elements may depend on the nature of the resource and on what the focus of the citation is (i.e. you may cite the director's name first if the direction of the work is your primary focus).
- Any facts relevant to identifying the item should be included (i.e. additional writers, actors, producers). See above links for examples.
- Accompanying material (like a director's commentary) can either be woven into the text (see Turabian 19.10.3.1) or cited by author and title (see Manual 14.265).
- You may need to consult other resources (i.e a library catalogue or IMDb) for some citation elements.
- You can also refer to a specific scene in a film. Include the scene title or chapter number in quotation marks at the beginning of the citation (i.e. “Crop Duster Attack,” North by Northwest…).
- For recordings accessed online, if there is no date of production or broadcast provided, you should include an access date prior to the URL (Manual 14.12).
-
TV broadcast
Example - in text citation
Rosehaven (2016) is an example of …
OR
…as seen in the episode "My Old Kentucky Home" (Mad Men 2009).
Format for reference list
Elements, punctuation & capitalisation
Broadcast
Title. Year. Season, episode, "Title of Episode." Directed by Director. Aired date, on Network.
DVD
Title. Year. Season, episode, "Title of Episode." Directed by Director. Aired date, on Network [if available]. Distributor. Format, disc number [if relevant].
Netflix or other online service
Title. Year. Season, episode, "Title of Episode." Directed by Director. Aired or access date, streaming service/URL.
Example - reference list
Broadcast
Rosehaven. 2016. Season 1, episode 5. Directed by Jonathan Brough. Aired November 9, 2016, on ABC TV.
OR
Rosehaven. 2016. Season 1, episode 5. Directed by Jonathan Brough. Aired November 9, 2016, on ABC TV. Accessed November 10, 2016. http://iview.abc.net.au/.
DVD
Mad Men. 2009. Season 3, episode 2, "My Old Kentucky Home." Created by Matthew Weiner. Aired 30 August, 2009. Lions Gate Television. DVD, disc 1.
Netflix or other online service
Mad Men. 2009. Season 3, episode 2, "My Old Kentucky Home." Created by Matthew Weiner. Accessed November 10, 2016, https://www.netflix.com/au/.
Style notes for this reference type
- See Manual 15.57, 14.261 and 14.265. See also Turabian 19.10.3.2.
- The order of the citation elements may depend on the nature of the resource and on what the focus of the citation is (i.e. you may cite the director's name first if the direction of the work is your primary focus).
- Any facts relevant to identifying the item should be included (i.e. additional writers, actors, producers). See above links for examples.
- The title of the show is italicised, and the title of the episode is given in quotation marks.
- Episodes and indexed scenes are treated like chapters. Where an episode does not have an individual title, just include the episode number.
- Reference list entries are usually listed by title (see Turabian 19.10.3.2)
- You may need to consult other resources (i.e a library catalogue or IMDb) for some citation elements.
- For recordings accessed online, if there is no date of production or broadcast provided, you should include an access date prior to the URL (Manual 14.12).
-
Online video
Example - in text citation
Adichie (2009) commented on …
OR
...as shown in the video “Ai Weiwei – Sunflower Seeds” (2010).
Format for reference list
Elements, punctuation & capitalisation
With author
Author name (Surname, First name). Year. "Title of Video." Additional publication information, date posted. Description of item, duration. URL.
Without author
"Title of video." Year. Additional publication information, date posted. Description of item, duration. URL.
Example - reference list
With author
Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi. 2009. "The Danger of a Single Story." Filmed at TEDGlobal 2009, July 2009. TED video, 18:43. https://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story.
Without author
"Ai Weiwei - Sunflower Seeds." 2010. Tate, October 14, 2010. Video, 14:41. https://youtu.be/PueYywpkJW8.
Style notes for this reference type
- See Manual 15.57, 14.267 and Turabian 19.10.3.3.
- If no date can be determined from the source, include an access date.
- Where actual names are used, invert the names of the first named person only in bibliography.
- Different sources will provide more or less information about the item. Any facts relevant to identifying the item should be included, for example the name of a YouTube channel or where and when it was recorded.
- If the material is a recording of a performance, or is a digitised version of pre-existing material, you should also include information about the original source. The order of these entries may depend on the information available.
- Use a permanent URL wherever available.
- You may give a time-stamp of the appropriate excerpt in parentheses, e.g. (Adichie 2009, 1:45).
- Enter the creator's name as it appears. If a real name can be determined, you can include it in brackets.
-
Streamed video from a database
Example - in text citation
In Bring Joey to Life in ‘War Horse’ (2012), Jeffrey Brown commented on …
OR
...as shown by Walker (Ali’s Wedding 2017).
Format for reference list
Elements, punctuation & capitalisation
Reference list entries may be listed under either the production title or the name of the director (see Turabian 17.8.3.1).
Title of Video. Year. Directed by Director/s. Additional publication information. Place of publication: Production company. Format. URL/DOI/Database name.
OR
Director (Surname, First name), dir. Year. Title of Video. Additional publication information. Place of publication: Production company. Format. URL/DOI/Database name.
Example - reference list
Bringing Joey to Life in 'War Horse': November 9, 2012. 2012. Interview by Jeffrey Brown. Arlington, VA: MacNeil-Lehrer Productions. Streaming video. Theatre in Video, Alexander Street Press.
OR
Walker, Jeffrey, dir. 2017. Ali's Wedding. Madman Entertainment. Streaming video. https://unimelb.kanopy.com/video/alis-wedding.
Style notes for this reference type
- See Manual 15.57, 14.261 and 14.267 See also Turabian 19.10.3.1 and 19.10.3.3.
- See Manual 14.11 for notes on citing material from a library database. Use a stable or permanent URL/DOI (Digital Object Identifier) wherever available. If one does not exist (or if the URL is too long), include the name of the database instead.
- The order of the citation elements may depend on the nature of the resource and on what the focus of the citation is (i.e. you may cite the director's name first if the direction of the work is your primary focus).
- Any facts relevant to identifying the item should be included (i.e. additional writers, actors, producers). Place of publication may not be applicable for works streamed online. See above links for examples.
- Accompanying material (like a director's commentary) can either be woven into the text (see Turabian 19.10.3.1) or cited by author and title (see Manual 14.265).
- You may need to consult other resources (i.e a library catalogue or IMDb) for some citation elements.
- You can also refer to a specific scene in a film. Include the scene title or chapter number in quotation marks at the beginning of the citation (i.e. “Crop Duster Attack,” North by Northwest…).
- For recordings accessed online, if there is no date of production or broadcast provided, you should include an access date prior to the URL (Manual 14.12).
- If no date can be determined from the source, include the date the material was last accessed.
-
Games and apps
Example - in text citation
In the Move edition of Heavy Rain (Quantic Dream 2012) ...
OR
...as demonstrated by Ubisoft Entertainment in Assassins Creed II (2011).
Format for reference list
Elements, punctuation & capitalisation
Developer. Year. Title of Game/ App. Edition, version. Publisher, year. Operating system required. Additional information [if relevant].
Example - reference list
Ubisoft Entertainment. 2011. Assassins Creed II. Xbox 360 Game of the Year Ed. Ubisoft Entertainment. Xbox 360 with PAL designation.
Quantic Dream. 2012. Heavy Rain. PlayStation 3 Move Ed. Sony Computer Entertainment. PlayStation 3.
Ustwo Games. 2014. Monument Valley. iPhone ed., v. 2.5.21. Ustwo Games. iOS 8.0 or later.
Visible Body. 2018. Human Anatomy 2018: Complete 3D Human Body. V. 2018.5.47. Visible Body. Android 5.0 and up.
Style notes for this reference type
- See Manual 15.57 and 14.268. See also Turabian 19.10.3.5.
- The reference list entries are listed with the name of the developer/s first.
- Include version number and information about device, platform or operating system required if available.
- Additional information (such as author, composer, animator) can be added to the end of the citation after operating system. See examples at Manual 15.57.
- Publisher and developer may be the same company.
Before selecting a referencing style check with your tutor, lecturer or supervisor for the style preferred by the School or Department.
Introduction to the style
Chicago style has both an author-date system and a notes and bibliography system. This guide refers to the author-date system.
There are two key components:
- In-text references.
- A reference list that corresponds to the in-text references.
Access to the full style manual
This guide is based on the Chicago Manual of Style, Chicago; London: The University of Chicago Press, 2017.
The full style manual is available as a library eBook. Print copies are available from the University of Melbourne library. Consult the official manual for more information.
In-text references
In-text citations are given in brackets, and include the author’s surname and the publication date. There is no punctuation between these elements. A page number or other location information may be added after these elements, separated by a comma.
Reference list
In a reference list entry the elements are separated by full stops.
The first-listed author’s name, according to which the entry is alphabetised in the reference list, is inverted (last name first).
Where there are four to ten authors, the in-text reference should give the name of the first author only, followed by ‘et al.’ The reference list entry should include the names of all the authors. See 14.76 and 15.9.
If there are more than ten authors, list the first seven in the reference list, followed by 'et al.' See 14.76.
Titles are capitalised headline-style (all major words).
Titles of larger works (e.g., books, journals and websites) are italicised.
Titles of smaller works (e.g., chapters, articles and web pages) or unpublished works are enclosed in quotation marks and not italicised.
For books, specify the edition for all editions other than the first.
Do not include personal communications, such as letters or informal emails, in the reference list.
These should appear only in the in-text references.
Secondary citations ("quoted in" or "cited in")
The Chicago Manual of Style advises against citations taken from secondary sources (i.e. “quoted in” or “cited in”), as you are expected to have read the sources you use. If an original source is unavailable, both sources must be identified in-text, but only the secondary source is listed in the Reference List.
In-text
Mention the original author and date in your text, but cite the secondary source in brackets, using “quoted in” or cited in”. For example:
In Sutherland’s article “The Existential Albatross” from the February 2014 issue of Ornithological Metaphor, (cited in Costello 1981)…
Reference List
In your reference list, cite the secondary source. For example:
Costello, Bonnie. 1981. Marianne Moore: Imaginary Possessions. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
If unsure please ask your lecturer or tutor for further advice.
For more information refer to the Chicago Manual of Style (15.56).
Abbreviations
Acceptable abbreviations in the reference list for parts of books and other publications include:
| chap. or ch. | chapter |
| ed. | edition |
| et al. | and others |
| rev. ed. | revised edition |
| 2nd ed. | second edition |
| ed. (eds) | editor (editors) |
| trans. | translator(s) |
| n.d. | no date |
| vol. | volume (as in vol. 4) |
| vols | volumes (as in 4 vols.) |
| no. | number |
| suppl. | supplement |
| s.v. | under the word |
Can’t find what you’re looking for?
Let us know the citing and referencing advice you need to help us improve Re:cite
Need help? Chat with a Librarian