Click to view my emoji story:Task 6 Emoji Story

Reflecting on the Process and Challenges of Translating the Title and Plot into Emojis.

I am in general an infrequent emoji user. I have never previously tried to communicate more than a word or two using emojis. I often use the thumbs up emoji as a quick response to a text message, but little else beyond this. At the outset of this task I really did not know what tools I could use to communicate the title and plot I had chosen. However, once I started playing around with the emojis and trying out different combinations it was a little like tuning your ear into a particular English dialect. It starts out a little strange, but somewhat recognizable and after a while you begin to get comfortable and delight in its idiosyncrasies.

I only used syllables once (I think) and that was in the title. For the plot I relied on whole words to identify characters, their state of mind, relationships with each other, story locations, and action. I used symbols and hand gestures to indicate the passing of time.

I found it challenging to describe action, for example, how to describe people moving into a house. The emojis are useful when communicating a characters’ state of mind and the hand gestures are useful when communicating the characters feelings towards each other. I believe I found a useful way to communicate the passing of time, but really that’s up to those deciphering my emojis to say.

There is little subtlety when using emojis. These are big gestures used for communicating quickly. Which I suppose is part of their attraction. This limitation presented an interesting challenge and I found this exercise fun. I noticed that as I was translating the sentences in my head into emojis the sentences I was bringing up began to simplify; my thoughts shifted to a kind of ‘baby speak’. The speech in my head quickly dispensed with any attempt at proper grammar.

I chose the work simply because it was the last film I had watched. I think I got lucky because it is a story that takes place in only a few locations, and is a character study.

I asked my 13 year old daughter, who is an avid emoji user, if she could decipher what I had written. She did not get the title but she did quite easily translate the plot into words. Her conclusion was ‘I don’t want to watch this movie’.