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I came upon the work of Don Goble, a multimedia instructor from St. Louis, Missouri, and his Six-Word Story, Six Unique Shots project when I was struggling with how to begin a new year in a new way. Letters from students and poster board montages bored me. The feel of a glue stick gave me hives. Don’s project gave me pause. At that time, I had never made a film and my phone’s camera challenged me. However, I took a breath and ditched the traditional. The results amazed me.
Six-Word Story, Six Unique Shots is a spin on the popular six-word memoir activity. Students begin by writing a six-word memoir, typically exploring their identity. They then create a 30-second film using only the six words of the memoir and six different types of film shots.
The structure offers students an opportunity to deeply dive into their own interiority—or not. Students share stories of addiction, body image issues, and anxiety. They also create films hailing their love of coffee. The degree of vulnerability is truly up to the individual.
You don’t need to be tech savvy or possess fancy equipment to pull off this project. All you really need is a desire to do something different. I’ll detail the schedule I use with a 90-minute block period.
