IMFDB talk:Style Guide

Error creating thumbnail: File missing Work In Progress This article is still under construction. It may contain factual errors. See IMFDB talk:Style Guide for current discussions. Content is subject to change.

Work Area

General

• The titles of film, games, and television programs should be in italics. Individual television episodes should be in quotes. (Battlestar Galactica, "Exodus (Part II)")

• Periods are not necessary as space fillers in tables.

• Initialisms do not need periods. (For example, "LAPD" not "L.A.P.D.", "SWAT" not "S.W.A.T.")

• [[Category:_____ Produced/Filmed]] or [[Category:_____ Produced]] categories should refer to the countries that produced the film/show, not filming location. (For example, Battlestar Galactica is not considered a Canadian production just because it was shot in Vancouver.) American productions do not need to be noted.

Media titles

• All media titles must have cover art or a poster. All cover art or posters must be at least 300 pixels wide, preferably portrait, in English if possible.

• Infoboxes are optional. If used, please use the appropriate template.

• If infoboxes are not used, thumbnails of the cover art or poster is to be right justified and set to 300 pixels. ([[Image:<Poster>.jpg|thumb|right|300px|''<Title>'' (<year>)]])

• Level 2 headings should be the default setting for weapons. (for example, == Colt Detective Special == ). Level 1 headings should be used when differentiating different types of weapons, Level 3 for variation of the same weapon.

• Thumbnails of "full-screen" (4x3 ratio) screencaps should be set at 500 pixels, everything else should be 600 pixels, with justification set to none.

• Actors holding weapons should be identified (if possible) and hyperlinked at least once on a media page. ("James Bond (Roger Moore) uses a ...", "Militant #2 (Darrel Heath) uses a ...")

• Identified weapons should be hyperlinked at least once on the page. ("A Browning M2HB is seen mounted...")

• An image of any identified weapon must be present, unless one is not available. Weapon images must be set to at least 300 pixels, with justification set to none.

• Hyperlinks do not belong in the headings or subheadings.

• Spoilers should be avoided unless absolutely necessary. Identifying any actor using any weapon takes precedence, however. If absolutely necessary, please use {{Spoiler}} at the top of the page.

Actor pages

• An image of the actor should be on every actor page. This image should show the actor's face clearly, and it is preferred that he or she be holding a gun, although not to his or her own head.

• Thumbnails of actor images should be right justified and set to between 400 and 500 pixels.

• If the actor is deceased, please indicate so on the page. (For example, "Ernest Borgnine (1917-2012) uses a ..." Please also add [[Category: Deceased Actor]] to the bottom of the page.

• Film and television credits should be separated. Each should use a Level 2 heading. ( == Film == )

• The actor and weapon must be physically present to qualify for inclusion. Voice acting and mocap work should not be listed, though video game full-motion video (FMV) sequences with real actors qualify for inclusion.

• If a television credit is a guest role, the episode name and date (year) should be included. That information should be readily available on the internet.

• For television credits, the episode name goes with the notes, not the show title.

• It it preferred that film and television credits be in table form.

Screencaps

• Black bars should be cropped from all screenshots.

• Not-Safe-For-Work images should be altered with the appropriate censor bars or pixelization. (American standards for NSFW apply, so no nudity or excessive gore.)

• Aside from the aforementioned black bars, screencaps should not be cropped. If a part of the image needs to be emphasized, please highlight that particular section with circles, arrows, or numbers.

• Closed captions and subtitles in the screencaps should be avoided if at all possible.

• Screencaps should be left in their native aspect ratios.

• Watermarked images should be avoided, especially if it proves intellectual property theft. (Theft of intellectual property is morally and legally wrong.)

• Only JPEGs are allowed.

• Screencaps should be uniquely named. Overly generic names should be avoided, (for example, Bond_PPK.jpg} as well as overly technical names (for example, vlcsnap-2012-11-21-16h05m37s240.jpg.) Aim for something simple, unique, and yet still descriptive. (for example "Skyfall_HK416_01.jpg" or "H50_S2E11_M4.jpg".)

Discussion

• Could we include a note on confusing the player and the player character in video games? It always bugs me when I'm reading a page and it says "the player holds an X." The player is the one who holds the controller, presses buttons, makes decisions, etc, it's the player character who picks up, holds, shoots, etc. Evil Tim (talk) 02:55, 10 January 2013 (EST)

Why not just refer to the player character by name? "Mason takes a ..." "Section picks up a ..." --Funkychinaman (talk) 03:01, 10 January 2013 (EST)

Yeah, I mean generally. I see quite a few captions which use "the player" to refer to something the character is doing. Evil Tim (talk) 03:08, 10 January 2013 (EST)

Subtitles

"Closed captions and subtitles in the screencaps should be avoided if at all possible." This doesn't apply to games, right? Because I always play with the subs on. Tim's caps also have them. - bozitojugg3rn4ut (talk) 09:06, 11 January 2013 (EST)

Sorry, I wasn't thinking of games. Subtitles should be avoided in film and television (and maybe anime?). --Funkychinaman (talk) 09:45, 11 January 2013 (EST)