How to reference your clip

Currently there is no universal standard  for referencing  audiovisual material in teaching, learning, research and HE materials. We are therefore using guidelines from the British Universities Film and Video Council (BUFVC) on how to cite clips. We have highlighted the main ones that you will be using below.

Audiovisual items fall  into two main categories – moving image and sound. These can be split into five sub-groups -Film, Television, Radio, Other Audio (e.g. non radio recordings). When you are deciding which category is the correct one you should consider what type of medium it was originally created or intended for, rather than the format in which you have accessed it.

• Information in bold print is mandatory; if you do not know this information, you must indicate it with n.k. (for ‘not known’). Information not in bold should be included where known (or relevant).

All of the mandatory information required in your citation is indicated in bold below.

 

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Film clips:

Given Title or ‘Clip Title’, Film Title [type, format] Production credit. Production Company/
Sponsor/Private, Country of production, year of release. Duration. Start-end timings of extract.
[release information, e.g. production company, catalogue number, date of specific edition]
or point of access, e.g. archive collection, archive reference, or name of private collection,
or original web URL (date of access).

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Television:

Given Title or ‘Episode/Clip Title’, Main Programme/Series Title, Series No. [type, format] Production credit. Production Company/Sponsor/Private, Country of production, transmission time if known, transmission date, transmission channel. Duration. Start-end timings of extract. [release information, e.g. production company, catalogue number, date of specific edition] or point of access if applicable, e.g. archive collection, [ archive reference, or name of private collection, or original web URL (date of access).

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Radio:

Given Title or ‘Episode/Clip Title’, Main Programme/Series Title [type, format] Production credit. Production Company/Sponsor/Private, Country of production, transmission time if known, transmission date, transmission channel. Duration. Start-end timings of extract. [release information, e.g. production company, catalogue number, date of specific edition] or point of access, e.g. archive [ collection, archive reference, or name of private collection, or original web URL (date of access).

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Other Audio:

Given Title or ‘Track title’, Main Title [type, format] Production credit. Production Company/Sponsor/Private, Country of production, date of recording if known. Duration. Start-end timings of extract. [release information, e.g. production company, catalogue number, date of specific edition] or point of access, e.g. archive collection, archive reference, or name of private collection, or original web URL (date of access).

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New Media:

Given Title or ‘Track title’, Main Title [type, format] Production credit. Production Company/ Sponsor/Private, Country of production, date created/uploaded/published. Duration. Start-end timings of extract. [release information, e.g. production company, catalogue number, date of specific edition] or point of access, e.g. original web URL (date of access).

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Further information

• Given Title refers to a title created by the user, in the case where a title does not already exist. Given titles should be in plain text, episode or track titles in ‘single quotation marks’, while the main title should be in italics.

• Type and format should be enclosed in square brackets. Where type is the same as format, e.g. a television or radio programme that was accessed in real time, only type should be given. To avoid confusion between the type of item and the format in which it can be accessed, see

• An extract is a particular sequence within a full-length item that is being referenced, e.g. a scene (or even a single frame) from a film or television programme. Start and end timings should be given for extracts. A clip is an incomplete audiovisual item. An example of a clip might be a YouTube video that is ten minutes long, and originally came from a longer film.

• For more than two production companies, countries of production or production credits, use ‘et al.’

• All moving image material is assumed to be in colour and with sound, unless otherwise stated.

• Where several production credits are possible (e.g. contributor, performer, etc.), you should decide whom it is most appropriate to include, e.g. the most significant person involved in the creation of this item. For a feature film this is usually the director, but for a DVD commentary you should name the contributor, and for a DVD extra documentary the interviewee(s). See

• Transmission times follow the 24-hour model, e.g. 21.00.

• Transmission information (channel and date) is not applicable to non-broadcast material.

• Dates follow the European format, e.g. dd/mm/yyyy. If you know the month and year but not the specific day, the latter can be indicated with question marks, e.g. ??/mm/yyyy.

• Duration should be given in minutes (mins) and seconds (secs).

• Start and end times for extracts should be given in hours, minutes and seconds, e.g. hh:mm:ss-hh:mm:ss. If you wish to cite an individual frame, append the frame number to the time, in the form: hh:mm:ss:ff

• A catalogue number (as used for DVD, VHS and audio release material) is a unique identifier that can usually be found either on the spine of the sleeve or on the face of the disc or cassette; see the example provided. [Fig. 01]

• For online items, a webpage address must be given in full. Add a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) number or link, if available (see http://www.doi.org/ for more information), as this will help uniquely identify the item, even if the URL becomes invalid.

• You should provide a date of access for online materials, but not for material accessed physically in an archive.

You can read the full BUFVC guidelines here…