PLAYFUL PATTERNS

Historical outfits fashioned from paper at the Wichita Art Museum’s “Wichita Wore What?” series. The pieces are from Isabelle de Borchgrave’s collection, “Fashioning Art from Paper.” The museum, partnered with The Sewing Center, hosted a “family ARTventure” for participants to try their hand at designing their own clothes from paper as a part of “Playful Patterns” on April 22. | Photos

BY TYLER GUTHRIE teguthrie@shockers.wichita.edu

Bluestem Studios are bringing another marvelous piece of short film from Shocker Studios: “ Reminiscence.” They have released several short films on their YouTube channel.

With each video they release, they test the waters of a different genre. “The Bhen-Jah Man” is a horror film, “The Trap House” is a documentary about growing up and “June” is about a girl’s struggle with drugs. With these differentiated plots in mind, I was curious about the direction they were going to go with “Reminiscence.”

“Reminiscence” tells the story of a college couple named Charlie and Mia who had recently broken up. Charlie and Mia try to socialize with their shared friends whilst trying not to see each other, but are eventually roped in together with their friends to play a game called Reminiscence, where you draw cards with personal questions on them, which makes you reflect on your past while sharing your emotions, wants, desires and more with the other players.

The video is ten minutes long and the first half of it is exposition. The way the scene is set, the characters are introduced and the order of events leading to the card game is just perfect to get you into the sequence of the game.

The Bluestem team relied on a cross-cutting technique to unfold the action. This is a filmmaking technique where different scene sequences are edited together to relay as if they are occurring all at once. All of the scenes are memories Charlie has as he comes to the conclusion that he was happier with Mia in his life, but at the same time, their relationship is over but could come back. The film ends with this uncertainty hanging in Charlie’s future.

Despite this film being only ten minutes, it does a magnificent job introducing character personality. Charlie is sensitive, but grounded on what he feels that he must do, even if it causes him pain in the long run. Mia is quirky, eccentric and engaging while also being quite demanding and flustered when she is upset. They possess good chemistry with each other but they aren’t ready for more meaningful relationships yet.

This film really felt like something students on campus would find relatable.

Spektrum Muzik brings Record Store Day to Wichita

BY MALEAH EVANS maleah.evans04@gmail.com

Record Store Day, held on Saturday, April 22, started in 2008 for “the people who make up the world of the record store ... to come together and celebrate the unique culture of a record store and the special role they play in their communities,” according to the official Record Store Day site.

They primarily take place in locally owned record stores across the US, and Spektrum Muzik, owned and operated in Wichita, is no exception. This year’s Record Store Day was their 10th in a row. When the store opened up at 8a.m. on Saturday, the line went into the alley behind the store. People came from all over Wichita to take a look at what Spektrum had to offer.

Each year, they pull a special selection that is first come, first serve and they go fast.

Alongside the records, they also sell special Record Store Day shirts, and they offered a giveaway for everyone who made a purchase during their hours. Winners of the giveaway received their choice of a $50 Spektrum gift card, a sealed original “Thriller” by Michael Jackson vinyl, a sealed original “Eat to the Beat” by Blondie vinyl, or a signed “Attention Attention” by Shinedown vinyl. “It somehow never seems to get any easier,” Spektrum Muzik owners said on their Instagram page.