An Emoji Story
Title
Plot
Process and Challenges
I was looking forward to this task, in part because it reminded me of a tweet from 2013 about the movie Spring Breakers. I haven’t seen it (and I have no desire to), but @ajlovesbbq tweeted out the plot using emojis, and A24 retweeted it:
With only 204 retweets, it’s not like this tweet set the Twitterverse on fire. I don’t know how it came into my feed, but it really stuck with me. Using emojis to tell a story was such a different and clever use case that I hadn’t seen before. And since there are more emojis available now than in 2013, surely I would be up to the challenge to create an emoji story based on a movie that is an iconic favourite and a nostalgic comfort that has had repeated viewings over the years.
I started with my iPhone and the title; it helped that the second word in the title had an exact 1:1 corresponding emoji. The first word is an abstract concept, and while I had more choices in the emoji iconography, I worried more about the reader’s interpretation. So I tested the title by texting it to a friend (Gen X) and my teenage son (Gen Z). Just like language, the meaning and use of emojis are constantly changing and evolving and how you “read” emojis can differ depending on age. I am happy to say both recipients got the title immediately, although I suspect that the second emoji is doing the heavy lifting in communicating the title.
With that first success under my belt, my instinct was to continue in a linear fashion through the plot of the movie (it helps that the movie proceeds in a simple, linear way — there are no flashbacks or alternate realities to contend with). Still, I quickly realized that this was too unwieldy a task. Even with 3,633 Unicode emojis (“Emoji Counts,” n.d.) at my disposal, I immediately ran into a few words, key to the plot and characters of the movie, that did not exist as emojis. How could I effectively communicate the plot without them? I had to take a step back. I thought about what has endured from this movie over the years. What key scenes and characters make this movie the pop culture artifact of its time? What elements of the visual film can the emoji iconography effectively communicate to the reader? I won’t be able to tell the whole story, but no recount fully can. I had to make some choices. I started with setting the scene and assigning emojis to the main characters. By repeating the main character emojis, I hoped the reader could figure out who they are (if they have seen the movie) or, if they haven’t, they could identify them as central to the story. Then I moved on to the scenes in the film with the most emotional impact. Oddly enough, those were the easiest to “write,” perhaps due to my increased connection to them, but also due to the very nature of emojis (emotion icons) themselves. I had a far richer iconography to choose from when I had to convey sadness, heartbreak, and love or emotional events such as death and celebration.
I also ran into a challenge using the recommended emoji keyboard and my laptop to compose my emoji story. I found it awkward and clunky. I was frustrated because there was no search capability. I turned back to my iPhone and Messages to author my story in what felt like a more authentic way for the medium. Am I even communicating effectively if I am using emojis outside of Messages? I was surprised at how much faster I was at texting the scenes to myself and natural it felt to author in that way. While I still mainly use emojis in my informal authoring spaces (texts with family and friends), they are remediating my relationship with my formal writing spaces. While naturally present in company messaging apps (Teams), more and more emojis are creeping into email communication between peers. I have yet to insert one into a MET assignment, though! Just the thought makes my editor’s heart shudder, even as I recognize that perhaps someday it will be standard practice, and my preference for text will be seen as hopelessly old-fashioned.
References
Unicode, Inc. (n.d.) Emoji Counts, v14.0. https://www.unicode.org/emoji/charts-14.0/emoji-counts.html
Hey Nicole,
My guess for the movie is Goodwill Hunting from the multiple ducks being shot and it being set in the US according to the flag emoji but, who knows like you mentioned emoji use and knowledge of media differ between age groups due to exposure…I’m interested to see the results.
Hi Nicole, I believe the movie is Top Gun, from your title. I think the duck is actually meant to represent Goose. It was the combination of a plane and volleyball that did it for me. I don’t know if I am correct of course but, those images create an iconic picture, plus the release of the newest movie helps to put in it the forefront of my mind.
I was also amazed at how limiting the large amount on emoticons are given the number of them that we have at our disposal. I couldn’t use my computer for the same reason’s you stated, awkward, clunky and no search bar, so I also ended up using my phone, as it was a much more intuitive device for me to find the emoji I needed. I think it relates to place, as I honestly can’t think of a time I use emojis when working on the computer, but I often use them when using my phone. It’s a more familiar reference point to collect the images that I needed.
That was an interesting point you made about the emotional points being the easiest. I would agree, but I think it’s probably because we usually use emoji’s to inject tone into our texts. Kress (2005) states that speech and writing tell the world; depiction shows the world. When we use words the meaning can be interpreted in different ways, so by adding images we can make sure there is no doubt to our meaning. Emojis are often added onto statements without long explanations, so the images add to the meaning when we want to be fast or succinct with our words.
Kress (2005), Gains and losses: New forms of texts, knowledge, and learningLinks to an external site.. Computers and Composition, Vol. 2(1), 5-22.