![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/etec540mellow\/files\/2022\/06\/topgun.jpg\")
Plot<\/strong>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/etec540mellow\/files\/2022\/06\/plot3-300x275.jpg\")
<\/strong><\/h4>\nProcess and Challenges<\/h4>\n
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\u2019t seen it (and I have no desire to), but @ajlovesbbq tweeted out the plot using emojis, and A24 retweeted it:<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/etec540mellow\/files\/2022\/06\/spring_breakers-300x287.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
With only 204 retweets, it\u2019s not like this tweet set the Twitterverse on fire. I don\u2019t 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\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n
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\u2019s 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 \u201cread\u201d 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.<\/p>\n
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 (\u201cEmoji Counts,\u201d 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\u2019t 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\u2019t, 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 \u201cwrite,\u201d 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.<\/p>\n