I watched the 11 minute and 16 second story Love In the First Person. The story was about 20-year-old Matt Eich and 19-year-old Melissa Turk. They were both college students that were in love. Matt won a photography contest and Melissa found out she was pregnant. Throughout the story, their love for each other and their emotions stayed continuous about the excitement and worries about their future. They were grateful for each other throughout the unexpected pregnancy. There was natural sound of voicemail messages Melissa would leave Matt on his phone. The slideshow ran through the entire time except when they would stop to talk on camera about how they were feeling about their upcoming marriage, pregnancy, and move from Ohio to Portland, Oregon for Matt’s internship. It took the viewer from before the wedding when they found out that Melissa was pregnant, through the marriage ceremony and her dad’s speech at the reception. They were both very excited to be married. They were obviously very loved by their family and friends. The pictures showed Melissa from when she first found out she was pregnant, and her belly grows throughout the slideshow. Matt and Melissa sent a very positive message throughout the documentary embracing life no matter how tough it gets and hard the struggles are. When they were getting ready to move to Oregon after the wedding and when she was still pregnant, it showed them saying goodbye to family and they talked about how they were nervous to move away. Their next segment where they’re talking on camera, they seemed a little weary, but they were still very much in love. They embraced that life is a journey and it ended with a picture of their new baby girl Madelyn Avery Eich born on October 3, 2007. Matt had said that although it sounded nice to be able to travel and go overseas to do something that made a difference, he realized that freedom was worth trading in for a family life. The slideshow told a good story and the natural sound and sound bites added a lot to the story.
