How to Write Movie Titles in Essay: Most Effective Tips and Guidelines

Do you wonder how to write movie titles in essays? 

Did your teacher give you essay homework to write about a movie, and you don’t know how to write a movie title in an essay? Some common questions include: Should we place the movie title in quotes? Should we italicize the movie name? Or should we write the movie titles in essays using uppercase? 

 Don’t wonder anymore. In this article, we will emphasize the particular styles to put a title of a movie in an essay. 

How to Write Movie Titles in Essays?

Generally, larger works like movies, TV & web series, and books are italicized in the body of an essay. Also, some writing formats suggest putting the movie name in the Title case. For example, Avatar: The Way of Water is the most acceptable style of writing a movie title in an essay. It is italicized and written in the Title case. 

But there are several other factors to consider when you plan on how to put a movie title in an essay. Hence, follow these tips for the best solutions. 

Valuable Tips to Write Movie Titles in Essays: 

Consider Essay Formatting Styles to Write Movie Title in Essay:

The formatting of a film title depends on the essay style guides you are using. Four popular essay writing formats are widely used across the USA. Those are, 

• Chicago Style
• APA Writing Style
• MLA Style
• AP Stylebook

We will focus on each writing format. And mention how to write the name of a movie in an essay following each style, as guided by professional essay writing services.

A. How to Write Film Titles in Essays Following the Chicago Style:

It refers to the writing guidelines as per the manual by the University of Chicago. Use title case capitalization when you write a movie name in the body of an essay, following the Chicago style. Major words, such as nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs, are capitalized. Minor words, such as articles, prepositions, and conjunctions, are written in lowercase if it is not placed at the beginning of the movie title.

B. How to Write a Film Title in an Essay Following the APA Writing Style:

It refers to the essay writing guideline of the manual published by the American Psychological Association (APA). It follows the same guidelines as Chicago Style Format, only with some additional specifications. It says to capitalize all words of four letters and longer. Also, capitalize the words after a colon or dash. If a hyphen is used between major words, both are capitalized. 

C. How to Put a Movie Title in an Essay Using the MLA Style: 

It is named after the Modern Language Association (MLA) and follows the style based on their scholarly publishing manuals and guidelines. It also follows similar writing styles like Chicago and APA but has some particular specifications. Such as capitalizing the first and last words of movie titles along with all principal words. Articles and prepositions are used in the middle of the movie name, and coordinating conjunctions are written in lowercase. 

D. How to Write a Film Title in an Essay Using the AP Writing Style:

It follows the guidelines of the Associated Press (AP) Stylebook. In this essay writing format, you should capitalize the movie names and put them in quotations. For example, “Avatar: The Way of Water” is the correct way to put the movie name in an essay using AP guidelines. Here, capitalize all principal words and prepositions or conjunctions which are three letters or longer. Also, you should capitalize all four-lettered and longer words. 

Chicago and AP essay writing styles are followed in the US publishing houses. Also, in some cases, your assignment may specify the use of APA or MLA writing formats, so you should follow accordingly. For details, you may contact the custom essay writing services, which will provide you with thorough guidelines. 

2. Write the Movie Title Correctly in the Essay:

 Several movies have their names partly in common. For example – 

• Brain Dead in 1990 and Braindead in 1992
• The House on Haunted Hill in 1959 and The Haunting of Hill House in 2018
• The Thin Blue Line in 1988 and The Thin Red Line in 1998

 Many other movies have such similarities, so you must check the name correctly when writing the essay. Mockbuster or knockbuster movies intentionally make titles similar to blockbuster movies to confuse the audience and to make good revenue. Don’t fall into the trap and pick the correct movie name. You can check it on the internet before focusing on how to write movie titles. 

3. Mention the Year of Release as a Movie Reference:

Many movies have the same title. So, when you mention such movies, always put the year of release in brackets after the title. For example –

• Point Blank (1967) and Point Blank (2019)
• Metropolis (1927) and Metropolis (2001)
• The Avengers (1998) and The Avengers (2012)

You can find several other examples of similar movie names. Hence, mentioning the year of release is mandatory in such cases. It helps the readers to place the movies in the right time frame. It also makes it easier to distinguish between movies with similar or identical titles. This step isn’t always necessary, especially for very famous movies. But it’s good practice for writing an academic essay.

4. Checkout for “A” and “The” to Write Movie Titles in Essays:

It is also a crucial factor to consider when you are focusing on how do you write a movie title in an essay. Because several movies have the same title without an “A” or “the.” For example –

• The Deadpool (1988) and Deadpool (2016)
• The Room (2003) and Room (2015)
• An Eye for an Eye (1981) and Eye for an Eye (1996)

These movies have similar names but are based on different themes and were created in different years. Hence, crosscheck whether the mane you have mentioned is the same as your intent. Because an “A” or “the” can make a big difference and refer to an entirely different movie. You may refer to essay help websites for more references about how to put a movie title in an essay. 

5. Capitalize the Name of the Movie in the Essay:

Generally, when writing movie titles, follow the rules for title case sensitivity. It means capitalizing the first and last word of the title, as well as all proper nouns and principal words. We have mentioned the standard rules of capitalization under different essay-writing formats in the first point. Refer to those as applicable. 

However, many movies use stylized capitalization. You can find the correct format for writing the movie names in their advertisements and title cards, so that capitalization can be tricky. Always follow the pattern shown in the movie title cards and write according to that in your essay. We hope you now understand how to write movie titles using capitalization format.

What Do You Do To Movie Titles In An Essay?

 After reading the above discussion, we hope you are clear about how to write the name of a movie in an essay. In general, use capitalization when you don’t know the particular essay writing format you need to follow in your article. Also, you may italicize the movie titles in essays as it is supported by most of the essay writing guidelines. But if you are following the AP Stylebook, put the film name in quotations.

 Also, keep the other points in mind, as the movie name may confuse you. And we can present many examples of movies with similar names but different plots and released in different years. So, if you miss the correct formation of the movie name, it may refer to an entirely different movie. It is better to mention the year of release along with the movie name to eradicate any confusion. 

The Bottom Line:

When preparing academic essays or other types of writing, you may often need to mention movie titles. Therefore, it is crucial to know how do you write a movie title in an essay on an academic paper or in any other format. It will help you to format your essay correctly and get good grades in exams. So, now you know how to write movie titles when you mention them in an essay. Never miss any of these crucial points mentioned above.