MLA doesn’t specifically provide guidance for this, but it would seem like an acceptable option to just provide a time range for the whole scene when you first start referring to it, and then note that subsequent quotations are also from that scene, e.g. “(00:03:17–06:19; subsequent quotations are from this scene unless otherwise noted)”

Hi Alaina,

Yes, you should generally provide a time range for all the dialogue you quote, whatever language it’s in. If you quote several consecutive lines of dialogue, you can always provide one time range for the whole exchange at the end of the series of quotations, so that your text is not too full of citations.

Hi Anna,

I would suggest providing a citation with a timestamp whether or not you’re analyzing specific dialogue from the scene. It’s still useful for the reader to be able to locate the scene in question in both cases.

Also, I was wondering if my entire section is on one scene, do I only need to cite that scene once and just refer to it as that scene throughout?

For example, I would write: the translator responds with, “Yes, of course. I understand.”

Thank you!

Hi Tanya,

MLA suggests that in cases like this you should add another piece of information from the full Works Cited entry to distinguish between the two sources. In your case I would suggest adding either the release year or the director’s last name for each film. This information should be added in square brackets after the title, e.g. (Dracula [2006]).

I am comparing two film adaptations of the same novel. The films have the same title. How do I distinguish them when I do in-text citations?

Thank you!

Hi Elena,

You should always cite the version of a source that you’re using. So if you referred to the scripts, you would cite those, in whatever context you found them. If you just refer directly to the movies, then you should just cite the movies themselves in whatever context you viewed them.

Hi! I’m doing my mini-research paper based on two movies. Is it necessary to have the movie scripts with me, or is it alright to just cite the movies with the necessary description in the Works Cited page?