Pre-production

For the first in years, the workaholic Creeds was finally residing in the house instead of using it as mere sleeping quarters.

The people who worked with them know of their inexhaustible energy, which was why it came as a surprise that the Creed duo chose to go on leave.

The adults in the house planned to recuperate from a week's worth of exhaustion for the same amount of time.

Within these seven days, the duo was also able to observe their little man in close proximity.

Alexander would flip the pages of his book and the elders wondered at the naturalness he exhibited while doing so. What they didn't know was that it was a learned habit from repeating the activity for a month and more.

Helena was a witness to what he was when starting until he arrived at the level he has now. It was a gradual process just as similar to how he advanced his art skills.

A child developing habits earlier on in life could not be underestimated. They had the enthusiasm and drive to strive on without giving second thoughts if they truly like what they are doing.

This is why adults shifting passion would exert much more effort in improving than the one they grew up nurturing. Adults were too prone to second thinking and staying in the lane they are comfortable with. Suitable characteristics for long-term stability but crippling in terms of exploring creativity.

It is also true that the more advanced one is at his skill, the harder it is to progress but that does not apply to childlike Alexander who still has a lot of potential to tap.

From being fascinated by his fascination with reading, Sullivan and Mark were then starting to question the boy's limits when he started to organize another batch of empty sheets.

They knew where these would be headed and were shocked when they saw up close that Alexander was lettering a title. It did not take long for the words to become registered in their heads as it was similar in font to the last one.

The words said 'Kid Psychic 2' and the onlookers were in between euphoria and headache.

"Grandpa! Dad! Care to join me?" Alexander was long irked by being oogled over like a rare specimen and scared them off with a question and a devilish smirk.

The duo finally took a step back from their unmasked stalking because they feared that Alexander would live up to the joking moniker they gave him... a little devil without mercy!

Anyways, the days passed in this same manner and Mark had his passion resurge when his son's 'care to join me' question was constantly replaying in his head.

He took the first chance he had when his exhaustion was gone and dove into movie planning with his son.

It was his first project made with Alexander and he made sure to cherish every part of it. So much so that he had his recording set up and filmed the entire process.

The 'Kid Psychic' pre-production process was just at its preliminary stage but Mark's film expenditure was already at an all-time high with the personal camera.

Alexander was thus exposed to the practical side of filmmaking and it made his reservoir of shallow film theories even shallower.

Neither he nor Other Joe was truly a practitioner of movie-making. They only knew the finished product and not the process by which they are being made.

Alexander's bookworm behavior was meant to fill that inadequacy and Mark's hands-on tutoring was the most opportune bonus that the books could not provide.

The production details of Kid Psychic were laid out and Alexander finally found out why the end credits were as long as it is.

Delegating aspects of the movie to certain people would effectively divide the task. The real challenge was to coordinate these people to meet the needs of every scene.

Prop manager, set design, lighting director, sound director, and all the various considerations were too numerous that Alexander felt his noob status reach an even lower level.

The young boy also came to terms with why many movie budgets hover in the millions. Every NGs and delay means an extended filming period, an extended filming period means more days, and more days means that the expenditure on food and crew price rises.

Alexander really began to have second thoughts about devoting himself to this field, the bloodsucking and money-burning were too much for him.

It was just a passing thought though but he inwardly vowed to find ways to lower production costs as possible. Maybe not now but in the future.

The current solution that Hollywood offers was to bulk up and perfect the preparation period. Alexander planned to upgrade that solution as much as possible.

The storyboarding method was already a big help in cost reduction according to Mark and thrifty Alexander found another weapon to further his cause.

While Mark and Alexander sank into making Kid Psychic and Kid Psychic 2, both of them found ways to complement each other's strengths while doing so.

Kid Psychic 2 progressed much faster with their combined effort. Although this sequel was still far off into the future, Mark still treated it with equal pre-production techniques as the prequel.

With an expert showing him the ropes, Alexander, who always had cost reduction in mind, had his head hurt when he realized the inevitable rise in the budget when making sequel movies.

"Dad, is there any other way to get around this? Hollywood is practically a money-sucking vampire if this keeps up!"

"It can't be helped. If the first movie succeeds as hoped, the staff would have their values raised. This naturally means a raise in salary as well." Mark really had to take time in registering his son's miser and spendthrift personality.

"I'm not talking about that problem because I already have a solution to that! The vampires I am talking about are these ungrateful actors. What is your solution to that?"

"There are rules about actor's pay and it is deeply rooted, so there is no other option than trying to lower it in negotiations. What I am now curious about is your solution to the staff's raised salaries!"

"Oh, why don't we just fire them and replace them with interns and low-paying counterparts? If another one of our movies earns well again, we get rid of them and find newer interns and low-paying counterparts." Alexander answered with a straight and cute face.

It was a harsh and cyclic strategy that theoretically addresses the problem but it was its ruthlessness of it that made Mark unable to answer.