Overview
Research and Bibliography Instructions
1. Select a film from the list provided on Canvas. This list contains films available on
Kanopy, which you can access through your UCI library account. If you would like to
write about a film not on the list, you must get approval from your TA in advance.
However, it must be a film produced before 1930.
a. You need to screen your film at least once, even if you’ve seen it before. It is
your responsibility to find a copy of your film to watch if it is not on Kanopy.
2. Research: You need to find written sources about your film from the time in which
it was produced and released. These may include film reviews, interviews with the
filmmakers, advertisements, or articles about the production, premiere, theatrical
exploitation, or box office performance in industry trades.
a. The best way to find these sources is through the Media History Digital
Library. You can access the search engine through: Lantern.mediahist.org.
b. Enter your film title in the Search box (in “quotes” may help if the title
includes common words), then narrow the years (on the left side) to two
years before and after the release year of your film (or five years after for
international films).
c. Look through the results (do not just use the first eight that come up!). You
need to find a variety of sources. Eight advertisements or eight box office
reports is not good research. You should find a mix of ads, articles,
interviews, industry reports, and reviews.
d. When you find one that looks interesting, click “Read in Context.” This will
open the magazine, though the page may be wrong. You often have to flip
back a page or two to find the right one.
e. If you are not finding enough quality sources:
i. Try searching the star or director of your film.
ii. Focus on one of the ‘Collections’ such as ‘Fan Magazines’ or ‘Technical
Journals.’
iii. For international films, you will need to search up to five years after
the release year since they often take time to be released in the U.S.
They may also have been released under alternate titles.
3. Citation: When you find a source you want to use, you should download or take a
snapshot of, as it will need to be included with your bibliography submission.
a. You then collect the citation information, including all of the following that yu
can find:
i. Article title
ii. Article author (there may not be one)
iii. Page number (If it’s not listed on the page, use a nearby page to
deduce the page number.)
iv. Periodical title (i.e. Daily Variety, Motion Picture News)
v. The date of publication (Likely at the top or bottom of the page.)
vi. The volume and issue number (You will likely need to flip to the
editorial page at the front of the periodical to find this.)
b. Sample Citation:
John Leezer, “To Be or Not to Be?” American Cinematographer II, no. 10
(May 12, 1921): 2.
or
Author, “Title” Periodical Name Volume, no. Issue (Date): Page Number.
4. Annotation: In your bibliography, you will then annotate each citation. This will
show that you have read your sources and know what they will add to your paper.
a. In order to annotate properly, you need to know what publication you are
using. On the search listing, you can click on the periodical title, such as
“Motion Picture Daily.” This will take you to a page with “Book/Volume
Details.” At the bottom should be a “Description” that tells you about the
publication and its intended audience.
b. Annotation Example: “This is a review of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari from a
major American trade paper aimed at exhibitors. It shows how American
critics liked but did not understand the film or its potential to connect with
audiences.”
a. It must include all of the following, preferably as a single pdf:
i. A list of at least eight (we recommend 12) properly cited primary
sources.
ii. 1-2 sentence annotations under each source entry.
iii. Copies of each of the sources.