Pre-production

As you may or may not know, pre-production is the process that place before the actual production of filming and shooting begins. This includes tasks such as hiring actors, building sets, budgeting, planning etc. In 'Suffragette' there are many pre-production tasks that Sarah Gavron, the director, and Alison Owen/Faye Ward, the producers, had to undertake, bearing in mind the film only had a budget of $14 million, which may sound a lot but APPARENTLY is little in the filmmaking industry! Here are some pre-production processes that were tackled:

Planning/Research - 

Because Sarah Gavron, along with her fellow producer Alison Owen, decided they wanted to make a film based on a historical event, they needed a lot of planning and research before it could be passed into making an actual film. Gavron thought it was unbelievable that no other filmmakers had already told the story on the big screen yet, she claimed "it seemed like such a vital, incredible piece of our history but also a credible story in itself." She must've took a very long time researching about the Suffragette women's movement and planning how to make the film considering we are now in the 21st century. She had wanted to make the film for years therefore spent 6 years working with the team on it, including the screenwriter, Abi Morgan.

Scriptwriting - 

The screenwriter of 'Suffragette' is Abi Morgan. She initially was hesitant to write a screenplay on the Votes for Women campaign in Britain due to the "exhaustion of tackling historical figures and taking on a biopic again, because it's a blessing and a curse." she said. However, after looking through the preliminary research sent to her by the producer, Alison Owen, and the director, Sarah Gavron, she found something she hadn't known about and she was sure most people who thought they knew about the Suffragette movement wouldn't know the stories of Emmeline Pankhurst (non-fiction character) or Emily Wilding. Abi Morgan had re-drafted the script of 'Suffragette' over 30 times, and this was only one of many scenes.

Casting - 

This does not entirely mean just the casts of who were involved in the actual film but the external casts who have great inputs into helping produce the film, such as the cinematographer and e
ditor. The list below shows part of the cast; who had to be given roles and when as a process of pre-production.

• Carey Mulligan - was cast to play the lead role of Maud Watts on 24 February 2013
• Helena Bonham Carter - joined the cast on 20 December 2013
• Meryl Streep - was cast as British Suffragette leader Emmeline Pankhurst on 19 February 2014
• Ben 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

Hiring Location/Setting - 

The British Parliament members had made the unprecedented decision to allow the shooting of 'Suffragette' to be shot in the Houses of Parliament. Sarah Gavron clearly had to hire the location where 'Suffragette' was to be shot, or hired someone to hire the Houses of Parliament? Anyway, 'Suffragette' is the first film production to have ever shot in there! NICE!


Costume/Props -

Costumes used in 'Suffragette' are evidently not modern or meant to be. Costumes had to look like what were worn in the century Suffragette is supposed to be set in, which was in the 1910s. Outfits such as trench coats and long dresses had to be pre-ordered or made just for the characters of 'Suffragette'. This is to create verisimilitude and make the audience feel as if it was really set in the 1910s and not the 21st century.

The props used were also to fit the 1910s feel. You would't feel as if the film was true if you saw a 222 to Uxbridge in the background during filming would you? Props such as horse drawn buses and old fashioned irons had to be made for the characters to use to show they were used at the time.