Making Things Un-Crappy

Alexander quickly delved into the books that he considers helpful to his cause. Sadly, he still had to deal with obvious complications when binge-reading informative texts.

Although he had a mature mentality, his obvious childishness was still present. His short attention spans and the need for accompanying pictures were a characteristic of children that he also struggles with.

It would have been a breeze if he was reading innovative and exciting works of fiction. Unfortunately, he had to go through callous and structured information dumpers which are practically non-fiction.

Going through loads was not easy but he still has a method to be able to cope with the arduousness.

For every chapter or subsection he finishes, he rewards himself by drawing out what he learned. It was a multi-task of activities he liked and didn't like but he was able to shoot two birds with one stone.

He just had to divide the monumental task of reading a book into scheduled and fun dividends.

Within one week, young Alex was able to finish two books. Much to the greater shock of Helena, who took the time to check her doubts and knew that the child was truly able to comprehend and read.

By the second week, three books were crossed out as he was starting to get the groove of what he was doing.

The following weeks practically hovered around three to five books being read as much lighter books were sparsed in between.

At the one-month mark, Helena was already alarmed by his achievements and it was at this time that her employers were not too occupied with their busy professional lives.

Old Sullivan was traveling here and there to try stabilizing his troubled branch stores while Mark had his attention centered on managing and trying to merge his film-related companies.

Helena had the right timing with the workaholic father and son coincidentally being at home while her shift was still on.

She recounted Alexander's monotonous new habit which surprised the unsuspecting duo.

"Alexander did tell us that he started reading that one dinner, but to read by the book..." Mark remembered a certain conversation they had in which his son barely mentioned such an important detail. "I expected that it was just ABC's but this is something else entirely!"

Even Old Sullivan could only sigh. He was torn between being proud or guilty. It was joyful news to know his grandson's extraordinariness but it was sorrowful to pinpoint the fact that his son and him don't have anything much to do with it.

"I think we should have a serious talk with that grandson of mine. We're truly grateful for all you've done for our little tike, Ms. Davis." The old Creed sounded out while Mark had the same thought.

"It is alright, sir!" Helena finally had peace of mind and silently delegated herself to other matters as the Creeds are about to talk amongst themselves.

It did not take long for the curious duo to find the young boy. For a minute, he was squinting his eyes at a particular page and scribbling on a piece of paper after a while.

Alexander was like a college student organizing his notes in the eyes of his elders. He may look occupied in his own world but he had already noticed the newcomers carefully approaching him.

He has already compiled his little project and this was the perfect opportunity to 'accidentally' show it to his intended target.

"Well, aren't you busy?" A pat was directed to his head as his grandfather surveyed what he was doing.

The little set-up he installed was enough to attract old Sullivan and the old man noticed that it was all about filming which depressed him a bit.

It dawned on him that his precious grandchild might be stuck in the quagmire of filmmaking just as how Mark has been.

Mark, on the other hand, was not far behind but was instantly attracted to the notes that his young son had compiled.

"Alex, let me borrow these for a while!" The director of the family hurriedly picked up the stack of bond paper as if it was a treasure and absorbed whatever inspiration he could have from it.

Mark saw his son's doodles become interspersed with little factoids that are closely related. What excited him was the fact that it is entirely about what he is passionate about.

Parts of the recording camera and its various iterations. The sequencing of a film strip.

Plotting a scene and connecting it with another. Basics of lighting and set design.

Forming a storyline and interpreting it into a script. Meaningful dialogue and its various implications.

The script and its importance to movies. Relation of sound and background music.

Picturesque visuals and the illusion of view. Designating tasks and scheduling of filming.

Importance of location and its various complications. Lawsuits and the intricate balance of law and film.

How to write, produce, direct, and act. What makes a good movie?

Even though Mark was flipping the unbound pages like a flipbook, he still saw the legible and detailed information each of those titles had.

It was an outline of sub-ideas without many intricate details but it was still impactful to an experienced director like him. Mark knew that it was a collective of notes taken from the collection of books he had.

Finally, he was attracted to the bottom-most paper and read the main content it had. It simply said 'Unanswered Questions and Possibly Solvable Limitations.'

If recording equipment is heavy, shouldn't it be lighter?

What would improve visual effects?

What if bluescreen and greenscreen cameras became readily available?

Why is film too expensive? Why are they too sensitive? What if their captured images were altered and overlapping?

How does one improve the picture's clarity?

The questions being lined up weren't news to an industry insider like Mark but when the 'Possible Solvable Limitations' was mixed into it, his outlook changed.

He considered the possibility that when these limitations are solved, then his hapless and uninteresting fiction films would have a fighting chance.

Mark looked at his cute son and exclaimed. "Alexander, you little genius! How did you come up with this?!"

"Grandpa said that your movies are crappy, so tried to make it un-crappy!" Alexander innocently answered but his father inwardly wept from the thinly-veiled criticism.

The sullen Sullivan finally let go of his worries as the little boy was only trying to help his bullied father, however, he could not help but still ask it out. "Haha! Why though? Did you want to help your dad?"

"I want to help dad but also make business. If movies and toys are to be mixed, crappy movies would only sell crappy toys. Then, I would only get crappy money." Alexander responded as 'naively' as possible which resulted in the laughter of his grandfather.

"Pfft! Bwahaha!" Sullivan was between tears and laughter. He was also inwardly gratified by the fact that his little grandson is as business-minded as him. "We really should thank your father's crappy movies... because, without them, we wouldn't know that there was a genius and a wisecrack in our home!"