For art with no title, provide a descriptive title without quotation marks.
If artist is unknown, begin with the title.
Descriptions of medium are optional in MLA and go as a supplemental element at the end of the citation. They can be general, such as "Painting" or "Sculpture", or detailed, such as "Oil on canvas" or "Bronze sculpture".
Where and how you viewed the media affects the MLA citation. For instance, viewing artwork firsthand at a museum uses one container and the formal name of the museum (e.g. Museum of Modern Art or J. Paul Getty Museum), but viewing the same artwork online uses two containers and the website name (e.g. MOMA or Getty).
For movies and television, if a contributor (for instance, the director) is the focus of your writing, you can place them in the author field (i.e. Howard, Ron, director.) Otherwise use the contributor field and choose contributors to mentioned based on relevance to your work.
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Author. |
Hopper, Edward. |
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Title of Source. |
Conference at Night. |
Container
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Title of Container, |
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Contributor, |
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Version, |
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Number, |
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Publisher, |
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Publication Date, |
1949, |
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Location. |
Wichita Art Museum, Wichita, KS. |
Hopper, Edward. Conference at Night. 1949, Wichita Art Museum, Wichita, KS.
Carpeaux, Jean-Baptiste. Bust of Jean Léon Gérôme (1824–1904). 1872–1873, J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles. Marble sculpture.
Parenthetical citation: (Hopper; Carpeaux).
Prose citation: In Edward Hopper's Conference at Night and Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux's Bust of Jean Léon Gérôme . . .
MacWeeney, Alen. Woman in Hat and Shawl at Times Square Station. 1977–1979. New York Public Library Digital Collections, digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/1ff01850-a455-0130-5f44-58d385a7b928. Photograph.
van Gogh, Vincent. Irises. 1889. Getty, www.getty.edu/art/collection/object/103JNH. Painting.
Parenthetical citation: (MacWeeney; van Gogh).
Prose citation: A photograph by Alen MacWeeney . . . . Vincent van Gogh's painting Irises . . .
The first example is for a movie viewed in the theater and the second is for the same movie viewed through a streaming service. The in-text citations are the same.
A Beautiful Mind. Directed by Ron Howard, Universal Pictures, 2001.
A Beautiful Mind. Directed by Ron Howard, Universal Pictures, 2001. Netflix, www.netflix.com.
Parenthetical citation: (A Beautiful Mind).
Prose citation: In the movie A Beautiful Mind . . .
Justified. Created by Graham Yost, 2010–2015, Rooney McP Productions / Timberman-Beverly Productions / Nemo Films / FX Productions / Sony Pictures Television.
Parenthetical citation: (Justified).
Prose citation: In the television show Justified . . .
Formats for citing the television episodes when watched on broadcast, on physical media, or on an app.
List performers if they are the focus of your discussion.
"Hush." Buffy the Vampire Slayer, created by Joss Whedon, season 4, episode 10, Mutant Enemy / WB Television Network, 14 Dec. 1999.
"Hush." Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Complete Fourth Season, created by Joss Whedon, episode 10, Mutant Enemy / Twentieth Century Fox, 2003. DVD.
"Now in Color." WandaVision, created by Jac Schaeffer, performances by Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany, season 1, episode 3, Marvel Studios, 22 Jan. 2021. Disney+, disneyplus.com.
"Now in Color." WandaVision, created by Jac Schaeffer, performances by Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany, season 1, episode 3, Marvel Studios, 22 Jan. 2021. Disney+ app.
Parenthetical citation: ("Hush"; "Now in Color").
Prose citation: Both the Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode "Hush" and the WandaVision episode "Now in Color" portray . . .
For movies and broadcast television shows viewed on streaming sites, see examples above.
"Naked Eye Observations: Crash Course Astronomy #2." Youtube, Uploaded by CrashCourse, 22 Jan. 2015, https://youtu.be/L-Wtlev6suc.
Parenthetical citation: ("Naked Eye Observations").
Prose citation: CrashCourse's video "Naked Eye Observations" . . .