Basic Pitch and Conventions of the Family Film Genre

Basic Pitch

What genre will your film opening be?

The genre of our film will be a live-action family adventure. We would like to incorporate various themes, most notably 'imagination', that will help build the idea of family values and heart warming story lines, as well as endear the audience to the characters. We plan to have the film made in a live-action format, with visual actors, as we currently do not have the budget or the skills to animate a full film opening.  Some examples of films we are looking at within this genre are: 'Ramona and Beezus (2010)', 'Cheaper By The Dozen (2003)' and 'Bridge to Terabithia (2007)', which all feature these aspects. 

What are the codes and conventions of this genre?

There are various codes and conventions within the 'Family Film' genre, such as: 

• Comedy elements, usually slapstick or unfortunate scenarios happening to (often rude) adult characters e.g. Harry Lime and Marv Merchants in 'Home Alone (1990)' are subjected to various booby traps and injuries by main character Kevin McCallister
• Adventure elements, as most children of the target demographic see the outside as a place to explore, so often films of this genre will attempt to make reference to adventure e.g. 'Tinkerbell and The Lost Treasure (2009)', 'The Goonies (1985)'
• In terms of setting, most children's films focus mainly on the outside and the unknown, for example 'Bridge to Terabithia (2007)', 'The Wizard of Oz (1939)' and 'Coraline (2009)' all make a significant effort to make mention of the theme of 'new worlds' that the characters can explore and visit, 'Terabithia', the 'Land of Oz' and the 'Other World' in each film respectively.
• Elements of fantasy or folklore are very often seen in children's films as children are more likely to believe, or want to believe, that creatures such as fairies and trolls exist, as is seen in the following films: 'Ponyo (2008)', 'The Princess and The Frog (2009)', 'Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001)', 'Treasure Planet (2002)' and 'How To Train Your Dragon (2010)' and 'Tinker Bell (2008)'
• On this note, this genre almost always includes an animal or mythical creature as a sidekick. Sometimes they serve as a voice of reason or purely as a cute mascot character for comic relief. Below is a compilation of film sidekicks and mascots including the following: Percy, Meeko and Flit from 'Pocahontas (1995)', Kevin and Dug from 'Up (2009)', Hedwig from the Harry Potter franchise, Pua and Heihei from 'Moana (2016)', Stitch from the Lilo and Stitch franchise, Pascal and Maximus from 'Tangled (2010)', Pegasus from 'Hercules (1997)', Donkey and Puss in Boots from the Shrek franchise, and Mushu and Cri-Kee from 'Mulan (1998)'.

• Animation is often utilised in children's film, CGI mainly, as either the base format or for particular characters, as well as puppeteering e.g. Inside Out (2015), Pete's Dragon (1977, 2016 remake) , Labyrinth (1986), My Little Pony: The Movie (1986, 2017 remake), Enchanted (2007)
• Having a child actor as a main or secondary character, so the target audience can relate to them is another technique used in almost every film of this genre e.g. Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory (1971, 2005 remake), Matilda (1996), James and The Giant Peach (1996)
• Age appropriate content for younger viewers, i.e. nothing that would prevent a 'U' or '12A' rating from the BBFC
• Family film also aim to appeal not only to children, but to a wide range of ages, so will sometimes make 'adult jokes' that children will not understand. The film 'Shrek (2001)' (and its sequels) is famous for this.
• Generally, the music, or the music most associated with the film, tends to be single very recently released, e.g. 'Smurfs: The Lost Village (2017)' uses Meghan Trainor's latest song 'I'm a Lady', which is used as a dance number at the end of the film. Additionally, the artist who's song is included in this way usually has a small cameo role as well, e.g. Meghan Trainor plays the part of Smurf Melody, 'a musical girl smurf', according to the film's Wikipedia page.
• On top on this, the primary single associated with the film will have a music video made with characters of the film within it, as well as the artist: e.g. Tori Kelly's cover of 'Don't You Worry 'Bout A Thing' by Stevie Wonder, who is also featured in the film, features the characters from the film 'SING (2016)' in which she plays the elephant Meena. Shown below are the music videos for 'Meghan Trainor - I'm a Lady (From the motion picture SMURFS: THE LOST VILLAGE)', uploaded by 'MeghanTrainorVEVO' on YouTube, and 'Tori Kelly - Don't You Worry 'Bout A Thing', uploaded by 'ToriKellyVEVO' on YouTube.

• The narratives tend to be simple one strand narratives that occasionally cut from the protagonists to the villain to show both sides of the story. There is also a moral to the story, so that children learn from the film as well, and the character who initiated the journey/quest often states the moral flat out to the audience.
• The character archetypes usually used in children's films follow the stereotypical idea of a brave, often male, protagonist who makes the decisions/leads the team, a nerdy or fat sidekick who worries often or makes a lot of mistakes, and a female, usually with a gothic or punk aesthetic, love interest who is sassy or sarcastic. However this can vary depending on the needs of the film, but generally, the main characters are in a set of three: e.g. Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Ron Weasly from the Harry Potter Franchise,