Should conventions always be adhered to or do they restrict creativity?

When producing our thriller opening for our Foundation portfolio, we did adhere to most of the generic thriller conventions.
For example

• A build up to the action
• Creation of fear/apprehension
• Flashbacks
• Murder encouraging a suspecting audience
• Twists in the plot
• Red Herrings
• Delays in revealing characters true identities
• Creation of suspense through use of soundtrack

I think the reason for us using these conventions was because we had picked up these kind of techniques through watching other thriller openings when carrying out our background research. I feel we would have used the same methods even if we had not known the set conventions of a thriller opening, we simply used what felt natural.

The only real convention that we did subvert was including a hero(ine), the only reason for this was because this would not have fitted in with our storyline. It would also be difficult to establish a hero in the opening sequences.

When producing our music video however, we had to look a bit closer at the given conventions of a successful video. We did a lot of work on Andrew Goodwin's principles, as we would need to use most, if not all of them in our final piece. If we chose to ignore too many of the key features then our music video would not have been successful at all. The only convention that we subverted was the intertextual references.

When carrying out either of these tasks it is very important to study the conventions laid out for you as they are the key to success. However I do think that it is a good idea to adapt the conventions as this makes your work more original if you use your own interpretations of the guidelines.