Best Based on young adult novel Movies
Ranked by how strongly each film carries the visual signature of based on young adult novel cinema — measured across 4,269 indexed frames from 48 films, against a 404,689-frame catalogue baseline. Not by box office, and not by vote.
Based on young adult novel films over-index on teenager, girl and boy — the objects that make the genre recognisable before a line is spoken.
- 1
Chris ColumbusDP Roger PrattIMDb 7.5TMDB 7.7See in full on FrameThrower →
Forced to spend his summer holidays with his muggle relations, Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) gets a real shock when he gets a surprise visitor: Dobby (Toby Jones) the house-elf, who warns Harry against returning to Hogwarts, for terrible things are going to happen. Harry decides to ignore Dobby's warning and continues with his pre-arranged schedule. But at Hogwarts, strange and terrible things are indeed happening. Harry is suddenly hearing mysterious voices from inside the walls, muggle-born students are being attacked, and a message scrawled on the wall in blood puts everyone on his or her guard, "The Chamber Of Secrets Has Been Opened. Enemies Of The Heir, Beware".
- 2
The NeverEnding Story (1984)
Wolfgang PetersenDP Jost VacanoIMDb 7.3TMDB 7.2See in full on FrameThrower →
Bastian is a young boy who lives a dreary life being tormented by school bullies. On one such occasion he escapes into a book shop where the old proprieter reveals an ancient story-book to him, which he is warned can be dangerous. Shortly after, he "borrows" the book and begins to read it in the school attic where he is drawn into the mythical land of Fantasia, which desperately needs a hero to save it from destruction.
- 3
Flipped (2010)
Rob ReinerDP Thomas Del RuthIMDb 7.7TMDB 8.0See in full on FrameThrower →
In 1957, when second-graders Bryce Loski and Julianna "Juli" Baker first meet, Juli knows it's love, but Bryce isn't so sure and tries to avoid Juli. By the sixth grade, in 1961, Bryce tries to get rid of Juli by dating Sherry Stalls, whom Juli despises. However, Bryce's best friend, Garrett, takes an interest in Sherry and eventually tells her the truth about Bryce asking her out; she doesn't take it well. From Juli's perspective, Bryce returned her feelings, but was shy. After finding out Bryce and Sherry broke up, she thought she could have Bryce back. But then they reconsider their decisions as time goes on. In 1962, Bryce's grandfather Chet Duncan moves in with the family. Chet has different views about Juli. There's a large, old sycamore tree that Juli loves which no one else understands. One day, it's cut down by a group of landscapers so a house can be built there, despite Juli's opposition. She becomes very depressed afterwards, as the tree let her see the world in a more enlightened way. Her father gives her a painting of the tree.
- 4
Jumanji (1995)
Joe JohnstonDP Thomas E. AckermanIMDb 7.1TMDB 7.2See in full on FrameThrower →
Jumanji, one of the most unique--and dangerous--board games ever, falls into the hands of the curious teen, Alan Parrish, in 1969. Mysterious and magical, the game strands the unsuspecting boy in the lush, savage forests of a mythical realm. Nearly three decades later, the game releases him before the awed eyes of the young orphaned siblings, Judy and Peter Shepherd. Now, the wild and incessant beat of the jungle's tribal drums is calling for the now-adult Alan and the other hesitant players, as the one who rolls the dice must never leave undone what the roll has started. Has anyone ever escaped from the game and Jumanji's formidable foes?
- 5
Tim BurtonDP Bruno DelbonnelIMDb 6.7TMDB 6.8See in full on FrameThrower →
When Jacob (Asa Butterfield) discovers clues to a mystery that spans different worlds and times, he finds a magical place known as Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. But the mystery and danger deepen as he gets to know the residents and learns about their special powers and their powerful enemies. Ultimately, Jacob discovers that only his own special "peculiarity" can save his new friends.
- 6
Susanna WhiteDP Mike EleyIMDb 6.1TMDB 6.3See in full on FrameThrower →
The 1940s. With her husband away fighting Adolf Hitler's Nazis, overworked Isabel Green finds herself caught between a hectic life of tending to the family farm and raising three mutinous children. In desperate need of a helping hand and at the end of her tether, Isabel can't believe her eyes when Nanny McPhee, the extraordinary government nanny, shows up at her front door after the events of Nanny McPhee (2005). As Isabel's scheming brother-in-law, Phil, tries to talk her into selling her half of the farm, the poor mother is going to need all the help she can get. Will a sprinkle of good old magic do the trick once more?
- 7
It’s Kind Of A Funny Story (2010)
Anna Boden, Ryan FleckDP Andrij ParekhIMDb 7.1TMDB 7.0See in full on FrameThrower →
Craig is a high-school junior in the gifted program, infatuated with his best friend's girl. When he realizes he's suicidal, he checks himself into the psychiatric ward of a hospital, thinking they'll do an observation, help him, and send him home in time for school the next day. Once in, however, he must stay for a week; the juvenile ward is being renovated, so he's in with adults as well as a few youths. Bobby, a man with a young daughter, shows him around; Craig notices Noelle, about his age. He tries to keep his friends from finding out where he is. He draws, goes to therapy, sings, helps Bobby rehearse an interview. Is this the stuff of insight?
- 8
Stephen ChboskyDP Andrew DunnIMDb 7.9TMDB 7.8See in full on FrameThrower →
Based on the novel written by Stephen Chbosky, this is about 15-year-old Charlie (Logan Lerman), an endearing and naive outsider, coping with first love (Emma Watson), the suicide of his best friend, and his own mental illness while struggling to find a group of people with whom he belongs. The introvert freshman is taken under the wings of two seniors, Sam and Patrick, who welcome him to the real world.
- 9
The Golden Compass (2007)
Chris WeitzDP Henry BrahamIMDb 6.1TMDB 6.1See in full on FrameThrower →
It was no ordinary life for a young girl: living among scholars in the hallowed halls of Jordan College and tearing unsupervised through Oxford's motley streets on mad quests for adventure. But Lyra's greatest adventure would begin closer to home, the day she heard hushed talk of an extraordinary particle. Microscopic in size, the magical dust--discovered in the vast Arctic expanse of the North--was rumored to possess profound properties that could unite whole universes. But there were those who feared the particle and would stop at nothing to destroy it. Catapulted into the heart of a terrible struggle, Lyra was forced to seek aid from clans, 'gyptians, and formidable armored bears. And as she journeyed into unbelievable danger, she had not the faintest clue that she alone was destined to win, or to lose, this more-than-mortal battle...
- 10
The Outsiders (1983)
Francis Ford CoppolaDP Stephen H. BurumIMDb 7.0TMDB 7.2See in full on FrameThrower →
Tulsa, Oklahoma, 1965. Fourteen-year-old Ponyboy Curtis is the youngest of three orphaned brothers who live on the north side of town, the "wrong side" of the tracks. Sensitive Ponyboy used to have a good relationship with his oldest brother Darrel, but since Darrel became the household caregiver, he is always on Ponyboy's case. Caught in the middle is third brother Sodapop, who dropped out of school to work full time. They all belong to The Greasers, a gang of boys from the north side also from working class families, often broken. Ponyboy's main concern is that any problem they may encounter, especially in their Greaser activities, will lead to the authorities splitting up their family. He also believes Darrel would have outgrown them and become something in his life if it wasn't for his loyalty to the gang, and the need to take care of the family. The rest of the world sees the Greasers as all the same, the face being Dallas Winston, the most volatile one who has just been released from prison, despite each boy having his own specific view of life. Similarly, the world sees the Socs, the Greasers' primary rivals, as all the same, rich spoiled entitled boys with a sense of superiority from the south side of town, despite again each boy being his own person. A connection between the two gangs happens in the form of Ponyboy and Cherry Valance, which doesn't sit well with Cherry's Soc boyfriend, Bob Sheldon. As a result, an incident occurs involving the Socs, Ponyboy and fellow Greaser, sixteen-year-old Johnny Cade, an equally sensitive boy who wants a better life for himself, but seems stuck in a downward spiral with parents who don't give him the time of day. Beyond Ponyboy and Johnny's lives being threatened by that incident, the Greasers and the Socs agree to a rumble to settle things once and for all. Some of the boys realize the rumble will accomplish nothing, with the questions being if they can convince their colleagues of the same, and if not what the consequences will be.
What based on young adult novel films are made of
How much more often each element appears in a based on young adult novel frame than in an average frame from the catalogue. A ratio, not a share — teenager is not in most frames, it is simply far more common here than anywhere else.
- teenager4.2×
- girl3.3×
- boy3.1×
- snow2.1×
- clouds1.9×
- stone wall1.9×
- plaid shirt1.8×
What breaks the pattern
The Spectacular Now (2013) is the least typical film here — it carries the least of what the rest of this list is made of. Which is either a failure of the genre label, or the most interesting film on the page.
Method
Every frame in the FrameThrower catalogue is tagged for shot size, lighting, time of day, camera angle, colour and the objects visible in it. This page aggregates those tags across 4,269 frames from 48 films carrying the based on young adult novel label, and compares each figure to the same measurement across the whole catalogue (404,689 frames). Films are ranked by how closely they match the theme’s over-indexed elements, weighted by how distinctive each element is; one film per series. Only films with at least 20 indexed frames and 500 TMDB votes are listed.
Machine-readable: /api/list/based-on-young-adult-novel
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