SUFFRAGETTE FILM TRAILER ANALYSIS

PRODUCTIONThe production for ‘Suffragette’ is based upon the woman's movement standing in the belief of equality between man and woman. Suffragettes were members of women’s organisations such as WSPU (Women’s Social and Political Union) and NUWSS (National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies) in the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century seeking the right to vote through a series of organised protests.In April 2011it was announced that Film4 Productions, Focus Features and Ruby Films would be producing a history drama hybrid film all about the famous British woman’s suffrage movement. Directed, scripted and produced by British women such as Abi Morgan who wrote the script for the film and Sarah Gavron who directed. Suffragette tells the story of an important episode in British women’s history, a time when thousands of women of all ages and social classes fought valiantly for their democratic rights. On the twenty-fourth of October, 2013 they revealed that Focus had dropped out and was to be replaced by Pathé with funding coming from the BFI Film Fund.

CASTCarey MulliganMaud Watts

Helena Bonham CarterEdith Ellyn

Meryl StreepEmmeline Pankhurst

Natalie PressEmily Davison

Anne-Marie DuffViolet Miller

Romola GaraiAlice Haughton

Ben WishawSonny Watts

Brendan GleesonSteed

Samuel WestBenedict

Adrian SchillerDavid Lloyd

George

SYNOPSIS‘Suffragette’ is a gripping drama following the lives of three of the most influential female political activists who are willing to loose everything in their fight for equality. The movie explores the passions and heart break of those brave women who risked everything for women to have the right to vote and make a difference in the world.Inspired by real events this film shadows the life of Maud Watts (played by Carey Mulligan) a middle class working mother as she stands with her army of suffragettes for equality. Having continuously watched as peaceful protesting is ignored and achieves nothing but humiliation many women turned to violence as a route to change, adopting militant tactics. The excitement begins when Watts is secretly recruited to join the U.K.’s feminist movement. Motivated by fugitive, Emmeline Pankhurst (played by Meryl Streep), Maud becomes an active speaker and fighter for the cause that has moulded our society into what it is today, taking part in acts such as mass window smashing, vandalising post boxes, and setting fire to empty buildings. Risking everything for women’s right to vote even if it means loosing their jobs, homes. children and even their lives.

CODES AND CONVENTIONS

In the trailer for ‘Suffragette’ many codes and conventions of a drama genre film are applied.By exhibiting real life situations of such a dramatic period the film is instantaneously following the correct conventions of this style of movie. Carey Mulligan plays the role of the dedicated activist Maude Watts, portraying a journey through the eyes of the militant suffragette, a working class activist finding her footsteps in the world of riots and protests developing her character as she risks all she has made of herself to achieve a common goal.The feature trailer continues to follow the codes and conventions as you witness intense social interaction throughout the entire sequence of the trailer, following a dramatic storyline which the audience can relate to, moving them and keeping them on the edge of their seat as you find common interests and passions between yourself and the main characters.What is frequently recognised when watching a drama film is that the heart of the drama is the conflict. This is a convention that is strongly enforced as the fight for equality strengthens, “wars the only language men listen to” you as the viewer are watching these woman struggle depicting hardship, difficulty and pain.However the codes and conventions of a drama trailer are broken as you realise that there is not a happy ending.

NARRATIVEI am certain that this feature trailer does in fact follow a linear narrative. This is pretty unusual as this technique doesn’t leave anything to the audience to decide or imagine. The trailer begins with a wide shot of London in the late nineteenth century. We are immediately introduced to the main character as she experiences a group of women smashing windows whilst they plead “Vote for women” This is our first encounter with the situation which highlights to the audience what this film is going to be about if the film title didn't give it away.We are then brought into her home that she shares with her husband and little boy. By showing us this clip you immediately wonder whether or not he is going to support her in the fight for equality. Forty seconds in we are made known to Helena Bonham Carters character, Edith Ellyn when she is asked whether she's a Suffragette she replies that she considers herself to be more of a soldier.As you can see the narrative follows the correct order of the script. It is from this point that we really begin to notice the work Watts is doing for the woman’s movement as she partakes in riots and attends a rally delivered by Emmeline Pankhurst as she defiantly pleads to the crowd “Be militant in your own way, I would rather be a rebel than a slave…. We are here not because we are law-breakers; we are here in our efforts to become law-makers”.The trailer begins to be narrated by the three main characters of the film creating this personal detail which involves the audience, as Pankhurst speaks of the women being “ridiculed, battered and ignored” the editor shows includes clips of some of the women having been beaten and hurt by the police. Her growing awareness of the inequalities that women face in the workplace, including low pay, bad working conditions and sexual harassment by their male bosses is just some of the troubles women of the late nineteenth, early twentieth century would experience which is all narrated by her character in role as she reveals “all my life I've done what men told me”.The trailer ends with action shots of houses exploding and political stand ups finishing with Maude Watts telling a male listener “We will win”. I suppose that for this style of film the order of it did not need to be chronological as everyone already knows their story which is probably why the distributors decided it wasn't necessary to mess with the sequence of the storyline.

SOUNDDiegetic sound is used continuously throughout the entirety of the official film trailer. When the trailer begins you can here what sounds like the inside of a courtroom. The male speaker is declaring that “women should not exercise judgment in political affairs …” this highlights to viewers the type of society the film is set in, where woman are expected to stay at home cleaning and looking after the children and leave the money making to the man. During the majority of the trailer you are aware of constant rallies and protests as woman aggressively shout “Votes for women” in order to gain attention. This creates and unsettling but inspiring message that replays through your mind as the trailer plays out. Around fifty seconds in the storyline is told through a narrative in role which makes the trailer feel more real and like it is still currently happening. This includes the audience more as you feel like you are standing amongst the army of women shouting for your rights.

EDITINGAs the movie falls under the drama genre it is appropriate that the editing is not too fast paced.Each clip gets at least five seconds each, displaying to the audience the fight took a long time to win and. It was not a war that was won quickly, it was slow paced, planned and exact to ensure that their fight was inexcusable and not right. It is very important that you as the viewer are not exposed to to much of the story line otherwise you would feel like you know exactly whats going to happen all the way through the film. Personally I do think that too much has been revealed about the plot but you are gripped from the beginning to the end as you quickly grow an attachment to the characters as you notice similar beliefs in one another.Mirroring the action, the editing does begin to increase, clips are shorter and showing some of the excitement of the tasks they carried out to get themselves heard.