The document discusses how the filmmaker used music, visual style, characters, and violence to follow conventions of mobster genre films and portray the historical figure Meyer Lansky. Specifically: 1) A Jay-Z song was used during a boxing scene to synchronize punches with the beat and portray the character's strength and intelligence. 2) Elements like the use of jazz music, black and white filming style, and focusing on a Jewish immigrant rising to power followed conventions of films like "Once Upon a Time in America" and "The Godfather". 3) Costumes like suits and hats from the 1930s/40s era and use of guns and violence in scenes also replicated visual conventions of typical

1. In what ways does your product use, develop or challenge
forms and convention of real media products

2.  I used a fast, gritty and upbeat track from Jay-Z called Oh my god for my main track in my film.
I used it because it went well in conjunction with the first boxing scene. The punches were in
synch with the beat of the track to emphasise both the power of Meyer and to portray his
strength as the emphasis on the punches with the beat sounds stronger than using a track that
was not in synch. The tracks synching with the punches also showcases Meyer’s intelligence
and his strength- he knows exactly when to punch and the places that would cause the most
damage, therefore by synching the track to the punches, it portrays Meyer as a quick thinking
man with plenty of force to exert.
 The music was typical of other gangster movies; following the media convention of mobster
style products, mainly newer ones such as Gangster Squad which actually uses parts of the
same track, and also Boardwalk Empire, a TV series which uses a lot of Jazz music with a
similar beat to Oh my god by Jay-Z.
 Finally I believe that the music I used challenged the typical media convention of mobster style
films in a way, as I deliberately wanted to portray Meyer Lansky as the Russian Jewish
immigrant he was, and how he had now made it to the top. This was implied through the lyrics
of the track: ‘The American dream, from the bottom to the top of the globe’ thus anchoring the
story line that Meyer Lansky is now at the top and fulfilling the dream he pursued ever since he
arrived in America.

3.  I wanted to ensure my films followed the typical media convention of other mobster films
including ‘Once upon a time in America’ and ‘The Godfather’ for example. To do this I had to
ensure my film followed suit of other major blockbuster mobster films and develop the
characters in the same way they did. That included having the typical ‘Started from the bottom’
style of character, someone who had come from rags to riches. I believe I followed this well as it
was based on a historically relevant character and his story followed that of the movies. My
film was filmed in black and white in order to portray the era that I am basing my film on- the
1940’s. I had to ensure it was all in black and white as the weather at the time and the scenery
would assume that the film was not in the 1940’s. In a way this has worked well with other great
films such as Schindler’s List, overall it created a dramatic effect on my film and allowed it to be
viewed as a film in that era.
 Typically, other great mobster films usually derive their characters from minority races, to make
the element of rags to riches more predominant and surprising. This was the case in Once upon
a time in America, where Noodles and Max, Jewish immigrants make it to the top of the
mobster ladder. Therefore, I followed the same typical media convention by using the fact that
Meyer Lansky, a Jew from Russia had made it to the top. Although this was in fact the case in
real life, it worked great for my film as it gave me plenty of material to work with on how he got
to the top with violence and drug smuggling, all elements I could use in my film.
 Violence was also another media convention used in lots of mobster style films. Therefore I
used the same style of violence in my film, replicated with the use of gun crime and a murder
occurring in the opening 25 seconds. This is an evident way my film replicated typical media
conventions of other typical mobster films.

4.  Typical mobster style movies such as Scarface and The Godfather used the traditional mobster
style costumes- suits and in most cases mobster hats, traditional of the 1930/40’s mobsters.
Therefore, to follow the traditional mobster image and to portray media conventions I too used
suits and mobster hats in order to make my characters seem more realistic and to fit into the
same era, something that I had to get spot on, in order to persuade my audience they are
watching a film set in the 40’s. The suits used were black with a navy blue tie, typical of
mobster films. Whilst boxing my character was wearing shorts and a white tee- this followed
films such as Gangster Squad, where in the opening scene Micky Cohen is seen boxing in a
white shirt.
 The main prop I used in my film was the gun used to shoot the victim. This followed typical
media conventions of other mobster films as shootings and gun crimes were evident in many
mobster films such as the opening scene of Once upon a time in America where Noodles
mistress gets killed by a rival gang. The pistol I used was black, which worked to my advantage
as it again follows the same era style pistol used, as at the time the pistols would be similar to
Colt.45’s used a lot in the 1940’s.