Ian walked down the stairs, and to where the actors were getting their make-up on.

He saw Adam, who was the actor who was doing Kevin sitting in front of the mirror, which had LED bulbs all around it—and gave Adam a clear view of himself through the mirror.

“Hey,” Ian said and waved from the mirror.

Adam looked back at him and waved. The makeup artist walked away, leaving Ian and Adam to talk.

“We didn’t even get time to talk properly, how have you been little star?” Ian asked and sat in the closest makeup chair.

“I’ve been great, what about you?”

Adam turned around in the makeup chair itself to meet Ian’s face.

“I’m fine,” Ian said and sighed. “This time, everything is different. There are already fifty-something people waiting for you to come out and give them some attention,” he laughed.

Ian remembered something related to this. The airport scenes were exponentially more difficult to shoot than in the first movie. The airport had to stay operational during filming, and Macaulay Culkin's newfound celebrity status required extra security due to fans and paparazzi. The scenes at O'Hare International Airport were filmed in February 1992 and kept their Christmas decorations up for the occasion.

“Yeah, they love me,” Adam laughed along.

“I’m sure they’ll love the movie too,” Ian said and patted Adam’s head.

-

“Okay, so, when Kevin’s solo is coming up. Buzz…” Ian looked at the actor who was playing Buzz. “Theo?”

“Ah yes, gotcha!”

Theodore was the actor who played the role of Buzz ever since the first movie. When he first joined in to play the role, he was graded D as an actor.

But now, after Home Alone, he got plenty of requests to act in different movies, and by exactly after two years, he had played in three movies, one came out as a blockbuster. Which meant that his grade went up to a B-list actor.

“Can I use the restroom? I still feel anxious!” Theo said and shrugged earning approval from Ian.

“Let’s take five then!” Ian said and walked back to his director seat.

The breaks even before the filming started had become a tradition of Home Alone 2 shooting.

Ian didn’t complain knowing the actors were nervous considering how much weight the sequel of the first movie had on them. Because on the very first day Ian had said that this movie must be better in every aspect, from cinematography to the performance of actors.

Currently, they were in a theatre, where in the movie during Kevin’s solo singing, Buzz makes fun of his little brother, in front of the audience.

The audience cracks up heavily, and then the entire show of the orchestra ends with the kids who were singing the song falling into one another, leaving Kevin who was among the kids, standing straight up among everyone else who was on the ground.

………..

The shooting started, and the orchestra was trained by a local school in California, which made things much more convenient for Ian.

“... And, Action!”

🎵🎵🎵🎵

My Christmas tree

Lit up like a star

When I see

My Christmas tree

Can loved ones be far

Christmas tree, I'm certain

Wherever I roam

🎵🎵🎵🎵

The lyrics that were needed to train the kids were given by Ian, which made a lot of things easier for the trainer.

“CUT!” Ian said and walked down to the guy who was supposed to act like the musician.

“Micheal, I want you to sing along with the lyrics. Like, uh, can we get Mr. Yoshuba here?” Ian asked the crew.

In a while, the musician who was also the teacher in the orchestra walk toward the actor and showed what he was supposed to do.

“Like this… Christmas tree I’m certain! Wherever I roaaam!” the musician basically acted as if he was in front of the orchestra. “Or… you could go like this… My Christmas tree… Can loved one be far!”

His right hand raised into the air, and his upper body bent towards the same side. The keyboardist played a few notes, and the man kept doing his thing with his body and singing along.

“...You get me?” The music and the act came down to an end while Micheal nodded in understanding.

“Perfect, let’s get it one more time! Theo, can you look at Adam with a smirk. An evil smirk, while singing, and Raelynn catch it in camera 2, are we good?” Ian asked as everyone was ready to start the hilarious scene.

“This one is my personal favorite,” Ian said to Mason while he sat on his chair.

“We’ll get a straight shot till Kevin! You both should push the christmas trees at the right time. Oh, and please, don’t break your backbone!” Ian said looking at the old female keyboardist.

Ian had requested from her that they could use a supporting actor so that there’d be no harm to the real actress. But she had insisted that she’d do the role on her own.

“Let’s do it!” Ian said and got ready with everyone else.

“....ACTION!”

-

“Kevin's solo's coming up. Tell Leslie,” Kate, who was Kevin’s mom and seated in the audience, whispered to her husband.

“Kevin's solo's coming up. Tell Frank,” Leslie nodded and leaned to her left to tell the man that Kevin’s solo was coming up.

“Okay,” and when she turned Frank was dead asleep. Snoring. “ Frank… FRANK!” she shrugged him so that he would wake up.

It was the time of Kevin’s solo.

On the stage, Kevin was right below Buzz, and the entire singing team went silent.

“Christmastime means laughter, Toboggans in the snow, Caroling together, With faces aglow, Stockings on the mantel, A wreath on the door, And my merriest Christmas Needs just one thing more”

Kevin started singing. Adam; who was also Kevin couldn’t sing well. But somehow he ended up singing the lyrics as much as he was capable.

In behind, Buzz was nailing her performance.

“Christmas tree, My Christmas tree!”

Another girl started to sing.

Realizing that Buzz pranked him, Kevin punches him and everyone falls into a heap

“CUT! Gosh! WOW!” Ian said and stood up. “Guys, are y’all okay?” he asked seeing the kids who were on top of one another.

“The right side falling downs are not that great, to be honest, but the left side shot was… just perfect! Shall we do a retake?” Ian asked as everyone cheered to it.

To keep the set alive and active, the cheers and the performances from one another encouraged everyone a lot.

Thus.

Take 2. Scene 6.

-

The entire set was in front of a reception where the scene of Kevin talking to the receptionist was about to take.

The camera slid to meet with the hotel concierge.

“Yes, two at eight, Henri. Mr. Yamamoto. Hold on a second. I'll call you back.”

“CUT! No, I want to see the suspicious look in your eyes. And you need to like, you know… this kid… right. This kid… give me that look,” Ian said.

“... ACTION!” the shooting restarted.

“Roll the second camera…. To the right… Yes, perfect!”

“Hi. Can I help you?” the receptionist turned to look at Kevin suspiciously.

“Reservation for McCallister.” Kevin said while looking up from the desk.

“A reservation for yourself?” the receptionist asked.

The actress that Ian took as the receptionist was quite special. She was an A-grade actress who agreed to play the role because it was short and quite eventful. It wasn’t even Ian who requested her performance, it was herself who contacted Ian for the role.

Adam who looked up to the receptionist, changed his emotions.

“Keep going,” Ian commanded through the mic.

“My feet are hardly touching the ground. I can barely see over the counter. How can I make a reservation for a room? Think about it: A kid going into a hotel making a reservation? I don't think so.”

When Adam finished his sentence, the lady in the reception looked confused.

“Cut! One more time please, your emotions, can you take a breath before saying, I’m confused. And roll your eyes too, is it possible?... Okay, cool. One more… Quiet on set!”

“....And, Action!”

The lady this time acted just like how Ian had asked.

“Perfect!” Ian whispered to himself.

“I'm confused.”

“I'm traveling with my dad. He's on business. He's at a meeting. I hate meetings. I'm not allowed to go in, only to sit in the lobby. That's boring. So my dad dropped me off. Gave me his credit card and said to have check-in... ...let me in the room so I won't get into mischief. Ma’am, sometimes I do get into mischief. We all do. Merry Christmas.”

The scene was perfectly taken, and Ian felt proud for once after the shooting had started.

“CUT! Guys, it came out so natural. Perfect. Let’s take a lunch break! We’ve sandwiches for everyone from Valerine! Please enjoy!” Ian said through the mic while everyone else cheered.

“YASS!”

“THANK GOD, FOOD!”

“Food is life!” Adam said at last.