Research

ORGANISED CRIME IN FILM/TV  
There are 2 titles I could go with either 1The REPRESENTATION OF THE ITALIAN MOB IN FILM AND TV or I could do The 2 Difference Between the English and American Mafia In Film  
  
  
The reason I like the sound of the 1st title as it gives a more centralised target to write and research about for example as I said the Italian mob I could look at films such as The Godfather, Goodfellas and Gotti which are all about the Sicilian mob or LA COSTA NOSTRA as it's known by its members as it has been referenced in films such as Gotti (GOTTI, 2018) and (Renga, 2013) as it behaves as a family and in that family there are the stories that represent the mob in film as most of these films are based on real events and people form the ever growing family of LA COSTRA NOSTRA. 
  
There are also stereotypes in films such as The Godfather and Goodfellas that show Italian Americans as "The two major stereotypes regarding Italian Americans are that this group is inextricably linked to the Mafia and that Italians are fun-loving buffoons"(Gesualdi, n.d.) and through the stereotypes presented in Italian mob films is one of the factors that interest people as these men who are killers, thieves and cheats can go out and have fun after massacring people on a daily bases 
 The godfather Is based upon real people such as Don Vito Corleone is based upon mob bosses Carlo Gambino and Frank Costello so I will use this to evaluate how Vito shows the characteristics of both Carlo and Frank 
   Research Authenticity 

 Gotti 

This source is based off the real life mafia boss John J Gotti who ran the Gambino Crime family in the Long Island district in New York and was also known as the "Teflon Don"(FBI, 2007) 
 As it was based on a real life mobster the information and events shown in the film are factual and contained authentic information that have come from sources such as the FBI and Ex mobsters that made it out of "THE LIFE" so the information is credible so that any representations made from the viewing of this film can be classed as credible information.   
 Bibliography of research in this text 
 Goodfellas/Michael Franzese 
The movie Goodfellas was based off the life of Henry Hill. He was an associate and money maker of the lucchese crime family between the years of 1955-1980. the reason he was classed as an associate to the family is because he wasn't full Italian as his mother was, but his father was Irish. the reason I am planning on using Goodfellas in my essay is because even though Henry himself wasn't in the family, his friends were. During a scene in the movie it shows henry walking past all the made men of the 5 family's in New York.  
 One such man that is shown in this scene is Michael Franzese who I am also using as an reference in this essay, as he has been proven to be a made man and has had multiple hits put out on his life since leaving the Gambino crime family. He has done multiple interviews about his experience in the life, but he has nether divulged any incriminating evidence against his fellow made man and the family he left behind. 
  
The Reason i have chosen a video interview of Michael Franzese is that I haven't found a book of this type of information that i require for this essay even though videos have been proven to be a bad source, I have taken the risk of using two in this essay, due to Michael Franzese being an expert on the subject I think these videos can be used as credible sources. 

 The Godfather 

The Godfather in the film is not real, he's completely fictional as there was never a Corleone family in America. But the godfather was inspired by the acts and characteristics of mobster and once head of the Genovese crime family, Frank Costello. Costello was the prominent inspiration towards the godfather character whose name was Vito Corleone. The way the charter Vito was inspired by Frank was from the actor who played him Marlon Brando. 
 Brando used the tapes of Frank Costello's trial and testimony to help build Vito's mannerisms and create the respectful don presented in the film. 

  Dana Renga 

Dana is the Chair and Associate Professor of Italian Co-Director, The Film Studies Program at Ohio State university. 
  
Dana wrote the book Unfinished Business that talks about how the Italian mafia has been screened in cinema and has written articles on Italian Television and cinema as well as Italian pop culture and modern and contemporary Italian poetry. 
 The reason I am using her book in my research is because she teaches and preaches the Italian pop culture as well as having created Books such as screening the mafia that details how the mafia have been presented in TV and Film. 
 ST Valentine's Day Massacre 
The St valentine's day massacre was an event that took place in Chicago during 1929 where 7 members on the Chicago North side gang were lined up against a wall at link park garage and were gunned down execution style by 4 unknown gunman dressed as police officers. This was retaliation of the takeover of organised crime during prohibition between the north side gang ran by George "Bugs" Moran and southside gang leader and famous Alcatraz inmate Al Capone also the co-founder of the Chicago outfit. 
 The reason i have chosen to use this source is that it was a dramatic event that has been glorified into events held in Chicago and helped skyrocket al Capone into the limelight of the public eye. 
Other research
while investigating my question I looked into copy cat killings of films as I have heard about them before hand such as the Slenderman murder when 2 girls led another girl into woods and tried to murder her in the name of Slenderman, what I did find is a string of copycat killings in the name of NBK (Natural Born Killers) where a two lovers go on a killing rampage and eventually at the end of the film they have fans supporting there killings a bit like Bonnie and Clyde in real life.
The reason I used this film is because of the murders committed in the style and in memory of NBK such as the columbine high school shooting committed by Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold who were fans of the film and even recreated scenes form the film. this then relates to the research I have done on active audience theory as they take the media and use it for their own purposes such as inspiration for their trench coats they wore in the killings.

 I also looked into 2 copy cat killings one committed by a child in Yorkshire and the other under the influence of acid in America after watching the film so on that note I looked into the effects of acid on the brain and used the NHS website for that as they are medical professionals sanctioned under the UK government so their info is credible  and discovered what it does to your brain.

Some of the sources below I didn't mention due to after changing my question they didn't provide the information required so I have still listed them as evidence of my research.

Final draft refined list of references

BBC News. (2018). Boy wanted to be 'natural born killer'. [online] Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-york-north-yorkshire-44006542 [Accessed 2 Mar. 2020]. 
Fairbrother, H., 2015. 2 Audience Theory - Media Studies. [online] Media-studies.mrshollyenglish.com. Available at: <http://media-studies.mrshollyenglish.com/theory/audiences-institutions/audience-theory> [Accessed 3 April 2020].
Gesualdi, L. (n.d.). Italian American stereotypes: The Library. [online] Eds.a.ebscohost.com. Available at: http://eds.a.ebscohost.com/eds/detail/detail?vid=4&sid=99370820-b529-4ad2-b9a1-a122fd504244%40sdc-v-sessmgr01&bdata=JkF1dGhUeXBlPXNoaWImc2l0ZT1lZHMtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=ers&AN=96397435 [Accessed 10 Feb. 2020]. 
IMDb. (2020). Hoffa (1992) - IMDb. [online] Available at: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104427/ [Accessed 2 Mar. 2020]. 
Mcleod, S. (2016). Albert Bandura | Social Learning Theory | Simply Psychology. [online] Simplypsychology.org. Available at: https://www.simplypsychology.org/bandura.html [Accessed 5 Mar. 2020]. 
Michael Franzese on Joining Mafia, Stealing Millions, John Gotti, Michael Jordan. (2019). [video] Youtube. 
Michael Franzese on 'The Irishman', Chin Gigante, Sammy the Bull, Rudy Giuliani. (2020). [video] Youtube. 
Natural Born Killers. (1997). [film] Directed by O. Stone. United States of America: Warner Bros. 
nhs.uk. 2017. Drugs And The Brain. [online] Available at: <https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/healthy-body/drugs-and-the-brain/> [Accessed 2 April 2020]. 
The St Valentines Day Massacre. (1967). [film] Directed by R. Corman. Hollywood: Los Altos. 

1st draft bibliography References

Fairbrother, H., 2015. 2 Audience Theory - Media Studies. [online] Media-studies.mrshollyenglish.com. Available at: <http://media-studies.mrshollyenglish.com/theory/audiences-institutions/audience-theory> [Accessed 3 April 2020].
Gesualdi, L. (n.d.). Italian American stereotypes: The Library. [online] Eds.a.ebscohost.com. Available at: http://eds.a.ebscohost.com/eds/detail/detail?vid=4&sid=99370820-b529-4ad2-b9a1-a122fd504244%40sdc-v-sessmgr01&bdata=JkF1dGhUeXBlPXNoaWImc2l0ZT1lZHMtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=ers&AN=96397435 [Accessed 10 Feb. 2020].
Goodfellas. (1990). [film] Directed by M. Scorsese. United States oF America: Warner Brothers.
GOTTI. (2018). [film] Directed by K. Connolly. New York,Hollywood: Emmett/Furla/Oasis Films, Fiore Films, Highland Film Group.

Michael Franzese on Joining Mafia, Stealing Millions, John Gotti, Michael Jordan. (2019). [video] Youtube. 
Michael Franzese on 'The Irishman', Chin Gigante, Sammy the Bull, Rudy Giuliani. (2020). [video] Youtube. 
nhs.uk. 2017. Drugs And The Brain. [online] Available at: <https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/healthy-body/drugs-and-the-brain/> [Accessed 2 April 2020].
Pileggi, N. (n.d.). GoodFellas.
Puzo, M. (1969). The Godfather. Greenwich, Conn.: Fawcett Publications.
Renga, D. (2013). Unfinished business. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p.6.


The Godfather. (1972). [film] Directed by F. Ford Coppola. United States Of America: Paramount Pictures.

Can be found at:Google Books. (n.d.). Screening the Mafia. [online] Available at: https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=jKqoZyCjTD0C&pg=PA21&dq=mafia+genre+film&source=gbs_toc_r&cad=4#v=onepage&q=mafia%20genre%20film&f=false [Accessed 5 Feb. 2020].
The St. Valentine's Day Massacre. (1967). [film] Directed by R. Corman. Hollywood: Los Altos Productions.



 "The western has been replaced by the mob story as the central epic of America"- Robert J. Thompson(The Death of the American Gangster Film, 2019)



Larke-Walsh, G. (2010). Screening the mafia. Jefferson, NC: McFarland.

The British Mafia/organised crime

The British organised crime genre in film and tv has risen in popularity in the recent years in shows such as PEAKEY BLINDERS where it is both fiction and non fiction as it takes a sort of alternate history setting where historic events happpen but with a twist that goes with the story of the show  but what it does is show what the extent of crime during the early 1900 to be more exact 1918 to 1940.
The crimes shown throughout the show range from simple illegal betting to Brewing Gin and using the legal syatem to help them profit both as a buissness and a family (the shelbys)(Peaky Blinders, 2013)
Snatch is another example of British organised crime I film as it represented the use of fear tactics in crime and how they go about conducting crime. one of the similarities of British and American organised crime in film and TV is the way of the leadership chain is respected as well as feared
References for British organised crime


CAMPBELL, D. (2020). UNDERWORLD. [S.l.]: EBURY PRESS, pp.4-8.


Peaky Blinders. (2013). [DVD] Directed by S. Knight. United Kingdom: BBC.


SNATCH. (2000). [film] Directed by G. Ritchie. United Kingdom: Sony Pictures Releasing.

 After conducting research into both sources for representation of the British organised  crime and the American mafia in film I have decided that the question I will be writing about in my dissertation will be Difference Between the representation of the  English and American Mafia In Film and TV. 

 CHANGING THE QUESTION/TITLE

Hollywood and the glamorisation of crime is what I have decided is gonna be my new question/title for my essay as I ran into the problem for not having enough sources for the British side of the representation of the original question as during the essay writing section I would run out of research sources to compare with.

But to help keep my research relevant to the question I have decide to write about the glamorisation of crime as I can draw upon the Italian American mafia and sadly school shootings that have been inspired by films such as columbine and natural born killers.

The other reason I have chosen this title is that you hear all these arguments ended with the news reporter saying is violent films the cause for these acts. By looking at this question I thought I can see if I can present how the creator of these films such as Hollywood have influenced tragic events.

Evaluation of Research
From creating this Essay I have realized the importance of credible and academic sources when researching, whether its a film or a advertisement project the use of academic resources further verifies the information you are using to create these projects and by using the Harvard method of Bibliography keeping it helps keep track of your research patterns and when you found this information. 
 The reason I only evaluated some of the larger sources such as The Godfather, NBK and Michael Franzese is because those are the sources that hold my essay to gather and finding out if the information provided by these sources are credible is my top priority, If they weren't there would be no body to the subject I'm writing.  

 The subject if my research changed while creating my Essay as I started to include films about Murder and serial killers that inspired cop cat killings in recent years such as Natural Born Killers  and that since then I have integrated them in my essay without fully examining them for the facts but I don't use the film for it s facts but for the acts committed in this film that inspired both robberies and murders alike and take responsibility if its proven un true.
Since finishing my final draft of this essay I have realized that I have used a large amount of sources of information in all different formats such as books, videos and articles I have realized that the best way of gathering a wide range of information on a subject is by using different perceptions on the subject to help build an argument that has plenty of backing to it. 
What I plan to do for my future projects if they are with this course or University id to build off the research skills I have used for this essay and bring them to my more practical projects in the future. 


Comments

Post a Comment