Explain how significant were the Conventions of Real Media Texts in your development of creativity across your 2 years of production work

The use of conventions have been significant across my two years of production in terms of the development of my creativity and according to Burton's theory, conventions are rules which must be followed in order to meet the expectations of the audience. For example, with the genre of supernatural, its typical that you'll see acts of possession or a theme of religion. Furthermore, if these conventions are followed within the genre of supernatural then it would fulfil the expectations of the audience. However, the repetition of conventions can be boring and predictable which would result in some people breaking the rules to portray their own subtext and deeper meaning instead of using the repeated conventions.
In my AS Foundation Portfolio, I created a hip hop music magazine. While creating my music magazine, I was successful in terms of meeting the conventions of a typical hip hop magazine as I used real media texts to guide me. Although, in my A2 Advanced Portfolio i created horror movie teaser trailer of the sub-genre supernatural.When creating my horror movie teaser trailer I was more successful in terms of following the semiotics as I carried out research prior to creating my trailer to develop my understanding of why certain conventions are followed and the subtext of conventions which are used.

The first task which I carried out in AS is my preliminary task which involved me creating a front cover and contents page for a school magazine. The front cover had to include a medium close up of a student. As i had not carried out any research and planning prior to this, I was unsure of how my magazine should have looked conventionally; therefore, my school magazine was unsuccessful as according to Burton's theory, the conventions were not followed accurately which would result in my audience being dissatisfied due their expectations not being fulfilled. My creativity skills were also limited as I had to follow a set structure and template of a school magazine.
In contrast, my second task during AS was to create a music magazine and my chosen genre was hip hop. This task was more successful as I carried out research and planning. An example of research was by researching other hip hop magazines such as VIBE and The Source which provided me with typical hip hop conventions such as colour schemes and house styles. The use of real media texts were significant however it did not develop my understanding of why conventions are used the way they are. This also limits my creativity as i cannot apply it in my own terms by using the influences of real media texts and creating my own idea.

In my A2 Advanced Portfolio, prior to creating my horror movie teaser trailer, I carried out a range of different research and planning tasks which enabled me to develop an understanding of the conventions. For example, I watched teaser trailers from real media texts which included conventions such as locations and for horror movies of the genre supernatural, they are typically set in churches as there is a theme of religion. My trailer is based in a church as the sub-genre is supernatural. The location is beneficial to setting the mood of the trailer, therefore, it can also create a deeper understanding of the subtext. This also impacts on the audience as if the location sets the tone successfully, this can create a sense of suspension and fear in which they are expecting (Burton).

My skills have developed significantly as a creative producer as I have a better understanding of why conventions are used. This has helped me in terms of meeting and fulfilling the expectations of my audience. In AS I lacked in this area as I was following a set structure, however, as I moved onto A2, due to the research and planning which I carried out prior to creating my teaser trailer, I was able to gain a greater understanding. This is beneficial as I was able to apply the information obtained to my own work.