A drama that tracks the story of the foot soldiers of the early feminist movement, women who were forced underground to pursue a dangerous game of cat and mouse with an increasingly brutal State. These women were not primarily from the genteel educated classes, they were working women who had seen peaceful protest achieve nothing. Radicalized and turning to violence as the only route to change, they were willing to lose everything in their fight for equality - their jobs, their homes, their children and their lives. Maud was one such foot soldier. The story of her fight for dignity is as gripping and visceral as any thriller, it is also heart-breaking and inspirational.

INFO ABOUT THE FILM….Production Companies- BFI, Canal+, Cine+, Film4 Productions, Ingenious Media, Pathe, Rugby Films.Distributed by- Focus Features.Release dates- 12 OCT 15’ (UK) Running time- 106 minsBudget- $14 millionBox office- $12.8 million

Poster Analysis…

- The COMPOSITION shows the main character in a very strong and dominant position. She is shown as an independent woman. You can see from each of the women’s costumes that they are from different classes and the way that they are standing shows that they are uniting together. Also their costumes indicate to the viewer that it is a period drama. The colour scheme is purple white and green which are the colours of the suffragette flag. The purple colour of the font is stereotypical and very feminine. The main character is in the front so she is leading and the other two are significant to a small extent compared to the main character. The design of the poster is very old-fashioned. - The GENERIC ELEMENTS suggest that it is a period drama and a biographical film and possibly political. There is a lack of diversity since it is set in London a hundred years ago. - The TEASER ELEMENTS is the tagline, ‘Mothers, Daughters, Rebels.’ it looks a lot like a propaganda poster. It all suggests that women are trying to get equality and want to fight for everyone together. The main STARS/DIRECTORS are Sarah Gavron, Meryl Streep, Carrey Mulligan and Helena Bonham Carter. - The UNIQUE SELLING POINT is that all the events are fictionalized but are all representational of real life events. There haven’t been any films based on women's rights on such a scale as this one.- The TARGET AUDIENCE is women, historians, demonstrators and activists. Men could be isolated from wanting to watch it because there are no strong male characters.

The SUFFRAGETTE website immediately shows you the trailer as soon as you click on the link. Then shows another link that takes you straight to the page where you can purchase the tickets along with a map to show you where it will be showing and how you would get there. This shows it is a film that is very eager to be recognized therefore makes the ticket process very easily accessible and in a way its form and structure shows how sure it is of itself and therefore, persuades you to watch the film.

The Official Website…

There are poster-synergistic links in the website. The website also shows the institutional information as well as the press endorsement. The image shows the poster, the map and they both use the same colour schemes. the second page shows a moving image from the film which suggests the time period and this also shows an element of interactivity. The characterization shows three characters who are very proud and strong and who have a fight on their hands. The fact that the film was released on Monday the 12th October is very unusual because films are usually released on Friday so they can total up the opening weekend figures and determine whether or not the film was successful or not.

A teaser trailer is released to keep the waiting fans exciting, showing showing them some special moments from the trailer. An official trailer is closer to the release date. It heightens the excitement and increases the publicity of the film so it gets more popular and makes more people want to watch it.

The Official Trailer and the Teaser trailer..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=056FI2Pq9RY

The CINEMATOGRAPHY of the trailer shows low key lighting as well as low saturation showing that the film is a very sad. This is also to show that the film is from the late 19th century and early 20th century. The GENERIC ELEMENTS are the characters like Emmeline Pankhurst, Maud Watts, Edith New. It is based around the members of the women’s social and political union of Great Britain. The TEASER ELEMENTS include the fact that it is very intense, dramatic and empowering elements of the film. The STARS include Carey Mulligan who is known for the Great Gatsby, and Drive. Meryl Streep who is known for the Iron Lady and Devil Wears Prada. Helena Bonham Carter who is known for Fight club and Cinderella. The UNIQUE SELLING POINT is that it is about women’s rights during the 1890s, there is a very moving story line judging by the trailer and it expresses working class women’s lives during that time period and it shows the urgency that reminds us of the struggle of women’s rights. The TARGET AUDIENCE would be women and the elderly,

The Print-articles…

Interviews-London Film Festival..

Streep said: “The great achievement of the film is that it’s not about women of a certain class; it’s about a working girl, a young laundress, who looks like us, and the circumstances of her life were out of her hands, completely.”Streep also responded to questions over her refusal to describe herself as a feminist in a recent interview. ”There is a phrase in the film – ‘Deeds not words’ – and that is where I stand on that. I let the actions of my life stand for what I am, as a human being. Contend with that, not the words.”

I found these quotes by Meryl Streep very inspiring and really appreciated them and really consider her to be an incredible person as well as actress.

Interviews-movie premiere cast interviews..

Fashionmingle.net interviewed Dr.Helen Pankhurst who is the great granddaughter of Emmeline Pankhurst who had some interesting input how they got a hold of some of the actual clothes of suffragettes.

Carrey Mulligan spoke about how the costumes really helped her power to communicate the role successfully. In particular she said that shoes really help her to do that. The designer apparently wanted to work with original costumes and the history behind the pieces helped her to deliver.

Abi Morgan mentioned the idea that the colour scheme amongst the costumes were to be a ‘bruise palette of colour’ these colours were to range from purple, blue, yellow and pink. I found this idea to be very interesting and original.

Meryl Streep and Carey Mulligan on The Graham Nortan Show.

Carey Mulligan in the Official movie interview.

A range of interviews on Suffragette featured on the Guardian.

More interviews..

Facebook…

Suffragette has its very own accounts on Facebook and Twitter. On Facebook, it has 33,668 people liking the page. This shows how wide the fan base is and how much publicity it has received and is still receiving. On their Facebook page they feature amazing posters to persuade people to already think about purchasing merchandise. Also, there are announcements where they are showing Suffragette in independent locations like the Museum of London. Here, many people can like and share to enhance anticipation and excitement and also by sharing there are bale to increase the fan base.

Twitter…

On twitter, the Suffragette twitter account has 6,931 followers and uses the hashtag, ‘inspiringwomen’ to generate more publicity. On their twitter account, people are able to communicate with their fellow fans on a deeper level as they can have conversations, share opinions and check up on important things that are happening.

PRE-PRODUCTION

Planning and research- There was a lot of research done. There had been no other filmmaker had decided to take on a film based on the suffragettes and she had to ensure the it would be perfect and true to the history. There was 6 years of research before starting production. This shows to commitment and dedication f Abi Morgan and director Sarah Gavron. 

Screen writing- The screenwriter, ‘Abi Morgan’ was initially hesitant to write about the women’s rights campaign. This was mainly because it was exhausting to ensure the historical accuracy of all the figures. She said that it was ‘a blessing and a curse’. Abi Morgan says that there were at least 30 re-drafts and many were or specific scenes. Also she initially based the story on the perspective of Alice but there decided to base it on the character of Maud so it could how the extent of the struggles that women actually went through.  

Casting- Carey Mulligan - was cast to play the lead role of Maud Watts on 24 February 2013Helena Bonham Carter - joined the cast on 20 December 2013Meryl Streep - was cast as British Suffragette leader Emmeline Pankhurst on 19 February 2014Ben Whishaw and Brendan Gleeson - joined the cast on 20 February 2014 Faye Ward - independent TV/film producer, Suffragette was her project on 27 August 2014 There were also many external actors to really communicate the vastness of the campaign and how many people were truly effected. also, to create the verisimilitude. 

Costumes and props- Some of the costumes were original pieces to create realism. Also, some had to loo real to create the authentic look and make it seem like they actually belonged to the 20th century. Costumes included trench coats and long dresses nd these need to be altered specifically for the actors. 

PRODUCTION

Each of the scenes had to cut and altered together. 

POST-PRODUCTION