Filmography Definition: What’s the Meaning of Filmography?
You heard that a filmography was required for submission with your latest work, but wonder what exactly it is. In this filmography definition, Beverly Boy Productions breaks down the simplest meaning of filmographies and provides insight as to what a sample filmography might look like for a filmmaker, crew member, or performer.
Simple Filmography Definition
In the simplest explanation, a filmography is a list of all films for which a particular actor, filmmaker, crew member, group or creative professional has participated in. The list includes the dates that each film was published as well as the actual distribution dates.
The filmography will typically be subdivided to reflect that unique roles that the individual or group served in while part of the film and, since it constitutes a resume of past professional experience, it is sometimes requested in lieu of a resume.
When is a Filmography Used?
A filmography is frequently included alongside literary research papers and in textbooks to represent the the bibliographic citation, especially when MLA-Style Format is required. Filmographies showcase all the different works of the crew member, individual, or group in a way that is easy for others to review, reference, and cite in their own research works. Before creating a filmography, formatting requirements should be addressed to ensure a uniform approach to reporting.
Sometimes, the filmography definition that you may recognize is referred to as a film bibliography. Writing a film bibliography or a filmography is required if you’ve performed research for a paper or report and intend to cite movies as sources within the text.
A filmography is a list of films that are categorized by some initial criteria such as actor, director, camera crew, genre, or another chosen criteria. For example, a director might have a filmography that lists all of his or her films, they may also have a comedy filmography which lists individually only his or her comedy films. The same director might also have a drama filmography that lists all of his or her dramatic films.
Filmographies
Filmographies, by definition, are not only associated by individuals or specific people. They might be associated with specific genres, such as the Handbook of American Film Genres which includes essays on various American film genres and includes a filmography to accompany the work.
A filmography may be created for a wide variety of purposes. In addition to filmographies that have been created to accompany the Handbook of American Film Genres, filmographies also have been created and published by library directors, the US State of Georgia, and many other groups.
Why Use a Filmography?
Understanding the filmography definition, you may be wondering how or why a filmography would be used? With the accumulation of filmographies for a variety of categories and topics, the data can be used in a number of ways. Documenting and recording the vast amount of information that is released regarding films and their publication allows for later compilation of the data into meaningful subsets of various perspectives.
For example, a filmography that documents all feature films from the US would provide, over time, the ability for us to apply specific criteria to a search of the filmography database to reveal the history of American film or to see how specific eras in the US impacted filmmaking and production in the country. Using data analytics, a filmography can have a variety of uses on a large scale, but close to home — many directors, filmmakers, crew members and those working in the industry simply use the filmography as a personal resume.