Chapter 7: Some Act To Get Paid, While You Act for Your Life

Although it might not have been fair for Shinji to use suggestion magecraft on Shirou without informing him, the results of the shot were exceptional.

Despite a couple of lines that weren't quite right, Shinji decided to include the scene in the final cut.

Afterwards, Shinji adjusted the camera angle to capture Illya's threatening scene with Shirou from an upward angle.

Using an upward angle would emphasize Illya's absolute dominance in this scene and create a sense of oppression for the audience.

In reality, different camera angles evoke different feelings in the audience. This was a lesson that Shinji had emphasized during his studies in Hollywood.

While the film industry in this world wasn't highly developed, the creative process for movies progressed rapidly. Many shooting techniques that became popular after 2010 in other places were already in vogue here.

Thankfully, Shinji's theoretical filming techniques were quite advanced, allowing him to mentally simulate how many classic scenes should be shot.

Of course, that was in theory.

Making a movie was far from a simple task; actual execution required immense patience and attention to detail.

After concluding the scene where Illya threatened Shirou, the dialogue scenes in Einzbern Castle were finished, leaving only the action scenes to be filmed.

The dialogue scenes set the upper limit for a movie's quality, while the action scenes set the lower limit.

This statement might not apply to all movies, but it certainly applied to most commercial blockbusters.

For these types of films, no matter how deep the plot, they couldn't ignite the average person's passion for watching. It was the action and special effects that drew audiences into the theaters to watch on the big screen. This was something that many film artists sneered at, while for the directors of commercial movies, it was what mattered most.

Wonder Woman 1984 attempted to evoke inner love with its touching themes, but most viewers remained unaffected. Godzilla vs. Kong lacked depth but left audiences exhilarated, winning over countless viewers.

In a commercial blockbuster, what mattered most was that the audience enjoyed it. Only when the audience was thoroughly entertained would they become interested in the film.

Especially for the Fate/stay night film that Shinji was currently shooting, action scenes were the foundation and backbone of the entire movie. The thrilling battles between the Heroic Spirits were the biggest selling point of the Fate series, and Shinji had meticulously designed this aspect. It wasn't just about fixed shots of two Heroic Spirits fighting on screen.

Meaningless and poorly-paced fights were less exciting than well-edited brawls between melons.

It should be noted that the combat skills between Heroic Spirits were not for show. They could fight well, but that didn't necessarily translate into good-looking fights.

During filming, Shinji would attempt to control all elements in the frame to ensure the action was watchable.

To facilitate editing, he would sometimes use both open and closed set shooting methods, where the same action was filmed twice—once in an outdoor location and once in a studio.

For every action scene, Shinji would go through multiple rehearsals and test shots to find the most suitable approach and achieve the best effect.

Since the Heroic Spirits had good martial arts backgrounds, they could execute the actions exactly as Shinji envisioned. As a result, the action scenes aimed to showcase the full range of the Heroic Spirits, presenting their most impressive aspects to the audience. Shinji didn't resort to numerous close-up shots to hide any shortcomings in the actors' physical abilities.

Among the techniques Shinji loved to use, his favorite was the 360-degree revolving shot, centered on EMIYA and rotating clockwise during his fight against Arturia.

In simpler terms, it meant filming with EMIYA at the center and revolving the camera 360 degrees around him.

This revolving filming technique had been developed for the ease of editing, and many ambitious film directors disliked using it. They found it rigid and believed it failed to showcase their directing style.

Shinji strongly disagreed with this sentiment. Even in his past life, this filming technique was still widely used well into the 2020s.

Especially among commercial film directors, the 360-degree shot was a favorite for depicting character relationships, emotions, and the entirety of action scenes.

This alone demonstrated the value of the revolving shot.

As for artistic value...

Apologies, but Shinji considered himself a complete commercial director.

What? You're talking about his style of movie making won't give him an Oscar trophy?

What's an Oscar Trophy? Since when does that useless trophy ever be of any use?

In this world, art films were popular, and the Oscars' status was overshadowed by the three major European film festivals. In the film industry, the United States was the largest box office, but it was only a place where other countries were exploited.

If possible, Shinji's restless directorial spirit would like to experiment a bit, learning from master directors to complicate the simple revolving shot.

However, Shinji was self-aware. He was still a novice director and it was only proper to use simple and solid techniques to complete Fate. He could learn those techniques when he became more skilled.

If he messed up this movie, there would be no future for Shinji as a director.

"Ha!"

On the set, the agile Arturia weaved around EMIYA while he remained still as a mountain, like an immovable guardian.

"Alright, cut!"

After Arturia and Shirou pierced EMIYA's body together, Shinji announced the end through a megaphone.

"Good job, Shirou. That part is mostly done."

Shinji casually tossed a towel to Shirou, signaling for him to wipe away the sweaty and dirty makeup on his face.

But Shinji's throw wasn't strong enough, and Shirou had to take a few steps forward to catch the towel.

"Oi, could you at least throw it properly!"

Shirou complained to Shinji.

"Oh shut it, It's already good enough. Here, this is yours. Use it to wipe off your sweat."

Shinji personally handed another towel to Arturia.

"Thank you, Master."

Arturia nodded politely and began to gently wipe herself with the towel, her precise movements radiating a unique charm.

Although Servants are composed of magical energy, apart from their abilities like materialization and disappearing after death, they are really just the same as ordinary people.

They can get hurt, bleed, and sweat just like anyone else.

So, using Heroic Spirits as actors was truly a fantastic idea. Shinji admired himself for making this decision.

Heroic Spirits were skilled in combat, their physical condition didn't deteriorate, and their appearance didn't age. Furthermore, their fees for acting in films weren't too high—just provide them with good food, accommodation, and a bit of spending money.

Apart from the need to cultivate acting skills and tolerate the peculiarities of the Heroic Spirits, as long as their magical energy was maintained, Heroic Spirits were the perfect actors in the eyes of film companies and production crews.

'Maybe I should start a modeling agency specifically for Heroic Spirits?'

With this thought, Shinji looked at his Heroic Spirits with even more enthusiasm.

"Shinji, you really treat them differently," Shirou muttered quietly.

Shinji rolled his eyes, "I call it being a gentleman."

"Shirou, Shinji's just being himself," Rin said with her arms crossed, teasingly, "Isn't that right? Mr. Womanizer who can't keep his hands off any woman at the Clock Tower."

Shinji argued, "That's just a rumor! I haven't made advances on all women! I only chat up the majority of single women between the ages of 16 and 35 at the Clock Tower!"

Rin's eyebrow twitched, "What's the difference?!"

Shinji raised a finger and said quite seriously, "Of course, there's a difference. I don't approach young girls, showing that I'm not a pedophile. I only flirt around with single women, indicating that I'm no homewrecker."

"Presenting your lecherousness with such righteous reasoning, Shinji, you're really something," Shirou said, amazed by his childhood friend's thick skin.

Rin sighed while covering her forehead, "You truly are the shame of Fuyuki. What will people say about me when they go to the Clock Tower for their studies? Am I from the same place as that super famous womanizer?"

"If you encounter bullying at school, just go to Waver. He'd be happy to help."

"I'm not talking about that."

Rin's eyelid twitched unnaturally.

"Big brother, you guys were talking about flirting just now..."

Sakura suddenly appeared behind Shinji, her expression dark as she pursued the topic.

"Ah! Heracles! Your performance just now was amazing!"

Startled by his sister's sudden appearance, Shinji broke into a cold sweat and hurriedly ran to the other side, giving Heracles, who was repairing his body, a thumbs-up.

"Hmph~"

Heracles's mouth curled up, and he rubbed his nose with his large finger.

Although Heracles had the fewest lines among all the Heroic actors, aside from a few lines before disappearing, he mostly just roared in battle.

Perhaps due to insufficient magical energy intensity, Heracles's Berserk status was much lower than his portrayal in the FSN storyline, but this was actually a good thing for Shiro.

After all, he had no plans to participate in the Holy Grail War. A rational Heracles was the ideal Heracles for Shinji's production crew.

Shinji's satisfaction with Heracles went beyond that.

If all the Heroic actors were high-quality actor candidates, then Heracles was the most outstanding among them.

This muscle-bound giant was undoubtedly the most obedient of all the Heroic actors. He usually sat in a corner without saying a word, and during filming, he dutifully followed instructions. He would diligently carry out any orders Shinji gave him.

Compared to a certain someone who went out drinking every night, a golden-haired chump who barely said a few words, Medusa who ignored Shinji and spent her time in a corner reading, and the gluttonous eater who could consume food for ten people... Heracles was the model hardworking Heroic actor.

For the sake of achieving a realistic effect, Heracles even voluntarily used up twelve trials and self-amputated an arm for filming.

Fortunately, the Type-Moon world had no Heroic Spirit Protection Association; otherwise, Shinji's behavior of "others act for money, I act at the cost of my life" would certainly lead to lawsuits.

Unfortunately, this kind and adorable Heracles in the Fate story could never escape from being seen as a combat power unit.

In the three routes of FSN, it was manageable. He might be a supporting character, but he had an imposing presence. When the era of FGO came, Heracles's twelve trials truly became a measure of combat power.

Describing the might of the Moon Cell Railgun? Two shots to defeat Heracles. Depicting the strength of Fairy Lanling Wang? Just let him comment on being trounced by his opponent 12 times.

Thus, a world where only Heracles got injured was established.

Slap

Shinji sympathetically patted Heracles's waist (he couldn't reach his shoulder).

"Heracles, you have to be strong. Someday, you'll also develop resistance against sword crits!"

"Mhm."

Heracles glanced at Sakura in the distance, then turned his large head to his Master, raising a big thumb.

"...Are you saying I have to be strong too?"

Heracles nodded slowly.

"..."

A world where only Shinji gets injured was realized.

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