Template:Infobox film

Template documentation

{{Infobox film}} is used to list at-a-glance comparative information about a particular motion picture.

Usage

The infobox may be added by pasting the template as shown below into an article, typically at the top of an article above the lead section.

{{Infobox film
| name           = 
| image          = 
| image_size     = 
| border         = 
| alt            = 
| caption        = 
| director       = 
| producer       = 
| writer         = 
| screenplay     = 
| story          = 
| based on       = <!-- {{based on|title of the original work|writer of the original work}} -->
| narrator       = 
| starring       = 
| music          = 
| cinematography = 
| editing        = 
| studio         = 
| distributor    = 
| released       = <!-- {{Film date|Year|Month|Day|Location}} -->
| runtime        = 
| country        = 
| language       = 
| budget         = 
| gross          = 
}}

Parameters

All parameters are optional.

Parameter	Explanation
italic title	set to no if the title of the article should not be automatically italicised (for instance, if the title has a disambiguation clause).
name	Insert the full common name of the film (defaults to {{PAGENAME}} if empty).
image	Insert a relevant image for the film. Ideally this should be a film poster, but a DVD/VHS cover, screenshot, or other film-related image may also be used. Only use the actual file name. See #Image for further guidelines.
image_size	The infobox uses frameless which automatically resizes images to a default width of 220px unless the full size of the image is smaller. This parameter should not normally be used.
border	Inserting yes here will result in a 1px grey border around the image, useful for instances where the image and the background will blend together (such as a film poster with a white background). If no border is necessary, this parameter should not be used.
alt	Alt text for the image. This field is normally not visible in standard web browsers, but you can see it by requesting the image's properties from the browser. A visually impaired reader will typically hear the alt text in place of the image.
caption	Insert image caption, which should describe the type of image used.
director	Insert the name(s) of the director(s). Separate multiple entries using {{Plainlist}}. In addition, link each director to his/her appropriate article if possible.
producer	Insert the name(s) of the producer(s). Separate multiple entries using {{Plainlist}}. In addition, link each producer to his/her appropriate article if possible. Only producer credits should be included, not executive producers, associate producers, etc.
writer	Insert the name(s) of the writer(s). This field is primarily used for films where the writer(s) are credited under "Written by". Separate multiple entries using {{Plainlist}}. In addition, link each writer to his/her appropriate article if possible.
screenplay	Insert the name(s) of the screenplay writer(s). Separate multiple entries using {{Plainlist}}. Use this field instead of the normal writer field if films divide writing credits between screenplay and story writers. In addition, link each writer to his/her appropriate article if possible.
story	Insert the name(s) of the story writer(s). Separate multiple entries using {{Plainlist}}. Use this field instead of the normal writer field if films divide writing credits between screenplay and story writers. In addition, link each writer to his/her appropriate article if possible.
based on	Insert the title of the source material and the name(s) of the source material writer(s). Use this field in conjunction with screenplay and story where applicable (i.e. "Screen story") if films are based on previously produced or published material, such as books, plays, articles, old screenplays etc. Use {{based on}} or similar formatting where possible. Do not use this field where the source material is ambiguous.
narrator	Insert the name(s) of the narrator(s). Separate multiple entries using {{Plainlist}}. In addition, link each narrator to his/her appropriate article if possible. Note: do not include actors with a role in the film; this is not a place for in-character voiceovers.
starring	Insert the names of the actors as they are listed in the billing block of the poster for the film's original theatrical release. If unavailable, use the top-billed actors from the screen credits. Other additions by consensus. Use the {{Plainlist}} template for multiple entries, and link each actor to his/her article if possible. Don't add additional text (such as "with" or "featuring") or punctuation to the list.
music	Insert the name(s) of the composer(s) of original music. Separate multiple entries using {{Plainlist}}. In addition, link each composer to his/her appropriate article if possible.
cinematography	Insert the name(s) of the cinematographer(s). Separate multiple entries using {{Plainlist}}. In addition, link each cinematographer to his/her appropriate article if possible.
editing	Insert the name(s) of the editor(s). Separate multiple entries using {{Plainlist}}. Listing "additional editors" and "supervising editors" may occasionally be appropriate, in which case add the tag "(add)" or "(sup)". Link each editor to his/her article if possible.
studio	Insert the company that produced the film. Separate multiple entries using {{Plainlist}}. In addition, link each company to its appropriate article if possible.
distributor	Insert the company name(s) of the distributor(s). Separate multiple entries using {{Plainlist}}. In addition, link each distributor to its appropriate article if possible.
released	Insert only the most relevant release date(s) of the film. If multiple entries are required, separate using {{Plainlist}}. Use {{Film date}}. See #Release dates for additional guidelines.
runtime	Insert an approximate time duration of the film in minutes. Do not link to minute. The BBFC website is a good resource - the running time is given to the second, so round it to the minute.
country	For reasons explained below preference is given to reliable databases like BFI, AFI, or Variety. Some call it the country(s) of production, while other simply call it the country(s) or nationality. If there is a conflict of information in various reliable sources, then list only the common published nations. Alternatively in the case of conflict, consider leaving this field blank and discussing the issue in the article. When using the field, do not use flag icons. Also, do not link to Cinema of XXXX.
language	Insert the language primarily used in the film. Databases often give every language spoken within the film, even if they only reflect a few lines in the overall script. The BBFC website is a good resource for the main language used in the film. Only in rare cases of clearly bilingual or multilingual films, enter separate entries with a line break (<br />). In the case of a single language without any additional text, it will automatically link to the language article (and the film article will also be put automatically in the category concerned). In other cases, give the wikitext for the desired linked text. Note: inserting "English" will not automatically link to English language. This has been done intentionally because readers of the English Wikipedia are already familiar with the language and no benefit is added by placing a link to it. Please do not override this by inserting [[English language|English]].
budget	Insert the approximate production budget of the film. This is the cost of the actual filming, and does not include marketing/promotional costs (i.e. advertisements, commercials, posters, etc). Budget figures can be found at Box Office Mojo and The-Numbers, with the later usually listing a mainstream website as the main source of the budget, such as the Los Angeles Times, Variety, etc. Such websites are preferred to cite as a reference, if possible. If there are conflicting estimates, do not cherry-pick; list each estimate either as an individual value or as a number range.
gross	Insert the worldwide gross revenue accrued by the film. This information is available for most pictures at Box Office Mojo and The-Numbers. If worldwide gross is not available, then indicate which region has grossed that amount.

Examples

{{Infobox film
| name           = Plan 9 from Outer Space
| image          = Plan nine from outer space.jpg
| alt            = "PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE" in large red letters adorns a beam from a night sky containing spacecraft and warplanes. The foreground has the head of a man in a bubble-headed red spacesuit, a caped vampire attacking a victim, a seductive vampiress, and gravediggers at work. Above the title is "UNSPEAKABLE HORRORS FROM OUTER SPACE PARALYZE THE LIVING AND RESURRECT THE DEAD!"; below are "BELA LUGOSI", "VAMPIRA", and "LYLE TALBOT". This movie poster is cheaply printed: the only colors are blue, red, and the yellowed background.
| caption        = Theatrical release poster
| director       = [[Edward D. Wood, Jr.]]
| producer       = J. Edward Reynolds
| writer         = Edward D. Wood, Jr.
| narrator       = [[The Amazing Criswell]]
| starring       = {{Plainlist|
* [[Béla Lugosi]]
* [[Maila Nurmi|Vampira]]
* [[Lyle Talbot]]
}}
| music          = Gordon Zahler<!--music supervisor-->
| cinematography = [[William C. Thompson (cinematographer)|William C. Thompson]]
| editing        = Edward D. Wood, Jr.
| distributor    = Distributors Corporation of America
| released       = {{Film date|1959|07}}
| runtime        = 79 minutes
| country        = United States
| language       = English
| budget         = $60,000
}}

Image

Ideally, an image of the film's original theatrical release poster should be uploaded and added to the infobox to serve as an identifying image for the article. Poster images can be found at websites such as Internet Movie Poster Awards or Internet Movie Poster Database. If a poster image cannot be found for the film, or if the film did not have a theatrical release, then a cover image of the film's display case (VHS, DVD, etc.) may be used instead. Cover images can be found at commercial websites such as Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk. In the absence of an appropriate poster or cover image, a screenshot of the film's title card may also be used. When replacing an existing image, upload the new image over the old image (where possible), and update the relevant details on the image description page.

Once uploaded, place the file name of the image, e.g., FILM TITLE poster.jpg (or a similar description), in the image= field of the infobox, but do not include the Image: part of the file name. The image_size= field only needs to be filled if the width of the image is less than 200 pixels (the default image width used by the infobox); enter the actual width of the image, in pixels, so it is not stretched in the infobox. The caption= field should describe the image, i.e., identifying it as "Theatrical release poster" or "DVD cover"; repeating the title of the film here is not necessary. Below is an example of how to use the fields:

| name           = FILM TITLE
| image          = FILM TITLE poster.jpg
| image_size     = 150
| caption        = Theatrical release poster

Credits

Credits in the infobox should not be retrospectively altered to accommodate name changes at a later date. A person should be credited by the name they were using professionally at the time the film was made.

Release dates

The film infobox is too small to reproduce the long lists of release dates provided by sources such as the Internet Movie Database. Release dates should therefore be restricted to the film's earliest release, whether it was at a film festival or a public release, and the release date(s) in the country or countries that produced the film, excluding sneak previews or screenings. {{Film date}} should be used for the film's release dates.

Release dates for straight-to-video and television films should follow the preceding guideline for home releases and airings, respectively.

Some editors like to use flag icons instead of country names. However, this should be avoided, as flags are less recognizable than country names.

IMDb, Allmovie, and other external links

When this infobox template was first created, in December 2004, one of the parameters created an external link to the Internet Movie Database (IMDb). Irrespective of the fact that IMDb is not used as a reliable source for verifying content in Wikipedia articles, it still is a resource that many people, including editors and readers of Wikipedia, often turn to.

In more recent years, additional external websites have become increasingly useful resources, including Allmovie, Box Office Mojo, British Film Institute, Metacritic, and Rotten Tomatoes. Also, modern films almost invariably have an official website. As a consequence, new external links were added to and removed from the infobox as consensus changed on the subject.

Discussions about the fate of these links took place in numerous places over some time, with a number of people advocating removal of all external links from the infobox, if not the article as a whole. Others spoke of the value of having at least a link to IMDb in the infobox. Eventually, a far from undisputed consensus arose to remove all external links from the infobox and to move them to the External links section where appropriate in view of the External links guideline.

Important points towards this consensus included fact that the infobox could not include all of the available links and that it would be inappropriate to pick and choose one or a few of those links over others. Suggestions that losing access to the most useful of the available links (typically IMDb) would damage the usefulness of film articles were not found persuasive by many since such links could still be included in the External links section and the table of contents linking to the external links section having all of the useful external links is adjacent the infobox.

External links to resources such as the Internet Movie Database (IMDb), Allmovie and any official website are no longer included in this template. Nevertheless, these resources and others may be usefully added to the "External links" section of the article.

A link to the official website, if any, may be created manually, or using the {{official website|url|name=title (optional)}} template.

Ratings

Like links to IMDb, statements of a film's rating(s) have been excluded from the infobox as consensus has shifted over the years. Mainly, there are simply too many ratings systems in English-speaking countries, let alone the world over. Further, these ratings systems rarely exactly agree, and a film's rating can change drastically over time as different editions of a film are released, and re-released, to theaters, broadcast, cable/satellite/streaming, and home media. Ratings information should be integrated into the film's article.

Country

According to the European Lumiere project, the value of this parameter is seldom found in the primary source (the film) and often involves original research:

"defining the nationality of a film is a complex task. There are no widely accepted international or even European definitions of the criteria to be used to determine the country of origin of a film. This is both a legal and a statistical problem. It is enlightening to compare the lists provided by the different national sources that we use: countries involved in a joint production are not always indicated (even when the main coproducer is from another country). Different national records - and the statistics on which they are based - can show the same film as having a whole range of nationalities." (from "Identification of Films in the Lumiere Database". European Audiovisual Observatory. 2006.)

Preceded by/Followed by

The "Preceded by" and "Followed by" parameters were removed on 16 February 2011.

References