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APA Format Style Guide: Film and Audio Visual Materials

This guide will assist you in writing research papers using the American Psychological Association (APA) Style. It will help explain formatting your paper as well as proper citation for various resources.

Basic Citation

Audiovisual material may have both audio and visual components, audio components only, or visual components only.

Formats for audiovisual materials follow a pattern based on whether they are a stand alone work or is part of a greater whole.  

Describe the audiovisual work in square brackets - [film] [TV series] [song]

Stand Alone

Author Date Title Source - Publisher Source - URL

Director, D.D. (Director).

Producer, P.P. (Executive Producer)

Host, H.H. (Host).

Artist, A.A. 

Uploader, U.U.

(2020).

(1989-present).

(2013-2019).

(2019, July 21).

 Title of work [Description].

Production Company.

Label.

Museum Name, Museum Location.

Department Name, University Name.

 https://XXXXX

Part of a Greater Whole

Author Date Title Source - Publisher Source - URL

Writer, W.W. (Writer), & Director, D.D. (Director).

Host, H.H. (Host).

Producer, P.P. (Producer).

Composer, C.C.

Artist, A.A.

(2020).

(2020, March 26).

Title of Episode (Season No., Episode No.) [Description]

Title of song [Description].

In P.P. Producter (Executive Producer), Title of TV series. Production Company.

In Title of podcast, Production Company.

On Title of album. Label.

 https://xxxxxxx

Authors of audiovisual materials are determined by media type.

Media Type Include as author
Film Director
TV series Executive producer(s)
TV series episode Writer and director of episode
Podcast Host or executive producer
Podcast episode Host of episode
Webinar Instructor
Classical music album or song Composer
Modern music album or song Recording Artist
Artwork Artist
Online streaming video Person or group who uploaded the video
Photograph Photographer

Audiovisual Works

Remember to indent the second and following lines when writing your reference list entries!

Film or Video

Forman, M. (Director). (1975). One flew over the cuckoo's nest [Film]. United Artists.

Fosha, D. (Guest Expert), & Levenson, H. (Host). (2017). Accelerated experiential dynamic psychotherapy (AEDP) supervision [Film; educational DVD]. American Psychological Association. https://www.apa.org/pubs/videos/4310958.aspx

Jackson, P. (Director). (2001). The lord of the rings: The fellowship of the ring [Film; four-disc special extended ed. on DVD]. WingNut films; The Saul Zaentz Company.

  • Parenthetical Citations: (Forman, 1975); (Fosha & Levenson, 2017); (Jackson, 2001)
  • Narrative Citations: Forman (1975); Fosha and Levenson (2017); Jackson (2001)

Film or Video in another Language

Malle, L. (Director). (1987). Au revoir les enfants [Goodbye children] [Film}. Nouvelles Editions de Films.

  • Parenthetical Citations: (Malle, 1987)
  • Narrative Citations: Malle (1987)

TV series

Simon, D., Colesberry, R.F., & Kostroff Noble, N. (Executive producers). (2002-2008). The wire [TV series]. Blown Deadline Productions; HBO.

  • Parenthetical Citations: (Simon et al., 2002-2008)
  • Narrative Citations: Simon et al. (2002-2008)

TV series episode or webisode

Barris, K. (Writer & Director). (2017, January 11). Lemons (Season 3, Episdoe 12) [TV series episode]. In K. Barris, J. Groff, A. Anderson, E.B. Dobbins, L. Fishbourne, & H. Sugland (Executive Producers), Black-ish. Wilmore Films; Artists First; Cinema Gypsy Productions; ABC Studios.

Oakley, B. (Writer), Weinstein, J. (Writer), & Lynch, J. (Director). (1995, May 21). Who shot Mr. Burns? (Part one) (Season 6, Episode 25) [TV series episode]. In D. Mirkin, J.L. Brooks, M. Groening, & S. Simon (Executive producers), The Simpsons. Gracie Films; Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation.

  • Parenthetical Citations: (Barris, 2017); (Oakley et al., 1995)
  • Narrative Citations: Barris (2017); Oakley et al. (1995)

TED talk

Giertz, S. (2018, April). Why you should make useless things [Video]. TED Conferences. https://www.ted.com/talks/simone_giertz_why_you_should_make_useless_things

TED. (2012, March 16). Brene Brown: Listening to shame [Video}. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psN1DORYYVO

  • Parenthetical Citations: (Giertz, 2018); (TED, 2012)
  • Narrative Citations: Giertz (2018), TED (2012)

Webinar, recorded

Goldberg, J.F. (2018). Evaluating adverse drug effects [Webinar]. American Psychiatric Association. https://education.psychiatry.org/Users/ProductDetails.aspx?ActivityID=6172

  • Parenthetical Citations: (Goldberg, 2018)
  • Narrative Citations: Goldberg (2018)

YouTube video or other streaming video

Cutts, S. (2017, November 24). Happiness [Video]. Vimeo. https://vimeo.com/244405542

Fogarty, M. [Grammar Girl]. (2016, September 30). How to diagram a sentence (absolute basics) [Video]. YouTube. https://youu.be/deiEY5Yq1ql

University of Oxford. (2018, December 6). How do geckos walk on water? [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?vqm1xGfOZJc8

  • Parenthetical Citations: (Cutts, 2017); (Fogarty, 2016); (University of Oxford, 2018)
  • Narrative Citations: Cutts (2017); Fogarty (2016); University of Oxford (2018)

Audio Works

Remember to indent the second and following lines of the reference list entries!

Music Album

Bach, J.S. (2010). The Brandenburg concertos: Concertos BWW 1043 & 1060 [Album recorded by Academy of St Martin in the Fields]. Decca. (Original work published 1721).

Bowie, D. (2016). Blackstar {Album]. Columbia.

  • Parenthetical Citations: (Bach, 1721/2010); (Bowie, 2016)
  • Narrative Citations: Back (1721, 2010); Bowie (2016)

Single song or track

Beethoven, L. van. (2012). Symphony No. 3 in E-flat major [Song recorded by Staats-kapelle Dresden]. On Beethoven: Complete symphonies. Brilliant Classics. (Original work published 1804).

Beyonce. (2016). Formation [Song]. On Lemonade. Parkwood; Columbia.

Childish Gambino. (2018). This is America [Song}. mcDJ; RCA.

Lamar, K. (2017). Humble [Song]. On Damn. Aftermath Entertainment; Interscope Records; Top Dawg Entertainment.

  • Parenthetical Citations: (Beethoven, 1804/2012); (Beyonce, 2016); (Childish Gambino, 2018); (Lamar, 2017)
  • Narrative Citations: Beethoven (1804/2012); Beyonce (2016); Childish Gambino (2018); Lamar (2017)

Podcast

Vedantam, S. (Host). (2015-present). Hidden brain [Audio podcast]. NPR. https://www.npr.org/series/423302056/hidden-brain

  • Parenthetical Citations: (Vedantam, 2015-present)
  • Narrative Citations: Vedantam (2015-present)

Podcast episode

Glass, I. (Host). (2011, August 12). Amusement park (No.443) [Audio podcast episode]. In This American life. WBEZ Chicago. https://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/443/amusement-park

  • Parenthetical Citations: (Glass, 2011)
  • Narrative Citations: Glass (2011)

Radio interview recording in a digital archive

de Beauvoir, S. (1960, May 4). Simone de Beauvoir discusses the art of writing [Interview].Studs Terkel Radio Archive; The Chicago History Museum. https://studsterkel.wfmt,com/programs/simone-de-beauvior-discusses-art-writing

  • Parenthetical Citations: (de Beauvior, 1960)
  • Narrative Citations: de Beauvior (1960)

Speech audio recording

King, M.L., Jr. (1963, August 28). I have a dream [Speech audio recording]. American Rhetoric. https://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream.htm

  • Parenthetical Citations: (King, 1963)
  • Narrative Citations: King (1963)

Visual Works

Remember to indent the second and following lines of your reference list entries!

Artwork in a museum or on a museum website

Delacroix, E. (1826-1827). Faust attempts to seduce Marguerite [Lithograph]. The Louvre, Paris, France.

Wood, G. (1930). American gothic [Painting]. Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States. https://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/artwork/6565

  • Parenthetical Citations: (Delacroix, 1826-1827); (Wood, 1930)
  • Narrative Citations: Delacroix (1826-1827); Wood (1930) 

Clip art or stock image

GDJ. (2018). Neural network deep learning prismatic [Clip art]. Openclipart. httos://openclipart.org/detail/309343/neural-network-deep-learning-prismatic

  • Parenthetical Citations: (GDJ, 2018)
  • Narrative Citations: GDJ (2018)

Infographic

Rossman, J., & Palmer, R. (2015). Sorting through our space junk [Infographic]. World Science Festival. https://www.worldsciencefestival.com/2015/11/space-junk-infographic/

  • Parenthetical Citation: (Rossman & Palmer, 2015)
  • Narrative Citations: Rossman and Palmer (2015)

Map

Cable, D. (2013). The racial dot map [Map]. University of Virginia, Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service. https://demographics.coopercenter.org/Racial-Dot-Map

Google. (n.d.). [Google Maps directions for driving from La Paz, Bolivia, to Lima, Peru]. Retrieved February 16, 2020, from https://goo.gl/YYE3GR

  • Parenthetical Citations: (Cable, 2013); (Google, n.d.)
  • Narrative Citations: Cable (2013); Google (n.d.)

Photograph

McCurry, S. (1985). Afghan girl [Photograph]. National Geographic. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/national-geographic-magazine-50-years-of-covers/#/ngm-1985-jun-714.jpg

Rinaldi, J. (2016). [Photograph series of a boy who finds his footing after abuse by those he trusted]. The Pulitzer Prizes.  https://www.pulitzer.org/winners/jessica-rinaldi

  • Parenthetical Citations: (McCurry, 1985); (Rinaldi, 2016)
  • Narrative Citations: McCurry (1985); Rinaldi (2016)

PowerPoint slides or lecture notes

Canan, E. & Vasilev, J. (2019, May 22). [Lecture notes on resource allocation]. Department of Management Control and Information Systems, University of Chile.  https://uchilefau.academia.edu/ElseZCanan

Housand, B. (2016). Game on! Integrating games and simulations in the classroom [PowerPoint slides]. SlideShare. https://www.slideshare.net/brianhousand/game-on-iagc-2016/

Mack, R., & Spake, G. (2018) Citing open source images and formatting references for presentations [PowerPoint slides]. Canvas@FNU. https://fnu.onelogin.com/login

  • Parenthetical Citations: (Canan & Vasilev, 2019); (Housand, 2016), (Mack & Spake, 2018)
  • Narrative Citations: Canan and Vasilev (2019); Housand (2016); Mack and Spake (2018)

Remember!

  • Capitalize only the first word in the document title and any proper nouns.  If there is a colon in the title (a subtitle), capitalize only the first word after the colon and any proper nouns.
  • Alphabetize your reference list by the first word of the citation, usually the author's last name.  If there is no author, alphabetize by the first main word in the title, ignoring "a," "an," or "the."
  • Double space all of the citations on your reference list.
  • Indent the second and following lines of the citation 5 to 7 spaces.

Changes from 6th Edition to 7th Edition

  • Category has expanded to include more types of materials.