Why Advertise If You're Not Getting Paid?

This is something that Takami Yoshimoto, who plays Daigo's girlfriend, understands most deeply.

Why do I feel like I'm the third party who's come between you two?

During a break in filming, Takami Yoshimoto looked at Hiroshi Nagano and Hayato Ichihara and joked.

Both men were slightly embarrassed, and they both looked at the Director, who was checking the footage after it was shot, with a look of suppressed anger.

"What are you looking at?" Shinji glared back. "With Igarashi's sudden appearance, she'd be a definite lead actress in any other movie."

"Director! How could you say such a thing...?"

Before he became so fat that he was "an ungraspable future," Hayato Ichihara almost burst into tears after hearing Shinji's teasing.

As the protagonist of Tsuburaya's latest Ultraman series, he was already upset enough by having his lead role stolen in this movie, which was supposed to be the Ultraman Mebius theatrical version. On top of that, the Director said this to him. He's probably going to have to live in Bengbu now.

Before Takami Yoshimoto could even laugh, Shinji's next words almost broke her down as well.

"Actually, if Lena and Daigo hadn't already been paired up in the TV series, the female lead in this movie should have been the girl in the red shoes. So, Lena, you're not the third party, you're the fourth."

"Hey! Director, you can't calculate it like that?!"

"These days, if you don't suddenly appear out of nowhere, are you even qualified to be the female lead?"

Second Master's replies were always so self-righteous.

Then, he was looked down upon by the three actors.

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After filming the scenes with Mirai and her "brothers," Shinji didn't continue filming. Instead, he started filming the opening scene of the movie, Daigo rides his bike to work.

In most cases, Filming does not follow the chronological order of the story.

The method most film crews use is to film a completed scene in one take, regardless of the order of the plot, and then move on to the next scene.

This is mainly to make the most of the set design.

After all, set design is a rather troublesome task. Repeatedly setting up the same scene is a serious waste.

For each set setup, shoot multiple shots and use them all at once for optimal results.

Especially for Location Shoot locations, which are usually rented on a daily basis, it's best to use them in concentrated periods and rent as few locations as possible.

Although the Fuyuki City will help Shinji arrange the venue, the film crew will still have to pay the rent themselves.

Shinji isn't a fanatic like James Cameron who would disregard cost and time entirely for making a movie.

That Director, who suffers from severe obsessive-compulsive disorder, spent over a million dollars to reorder a complete set of tableware just because of a White Star company logo that the audience couldn't even see.

If it were Shinji, he would probably just use the tableware from the Matou Family instead.

Therefore, despite his great admiration for Card God, Shinji never thought of becoming like him; cost control has always been an important metric that Shinji pursues.

It's like how the story of <Super 8> is set in Yokohama City, but Shinji's entire filming took place in Fuyuki City.

Even when filming Location Shoot scenes with human actors, the Second Master had no intention of going to Yokohama.

Yokohama is an important city within the Kyoto, so the rental fees for Location Shoot locations are really not cheap.

Since Fuyuki City is a port city anyway, no one will notice if it's modeled after Yokohama.

Of course, the simulation here refers to close-up shots; when it comes to the long shots of Ultraman fighting monsters, some of Yokohama's iconic buildings will still appear.

Fortunately, at this point, live-action footage is not needed; instead, a classic scene from Tokusatsu —battle stage set design—is used.

"So, I'm leaving this matter to the two of you."

Seeing the bewildered Shirou and Red A, Shinji put one hand on each of their shoulders and smiled encouragingly.

"Shinji Matou, are you fucking kidding me?"

Red A cursed without any politeness.

Because Shinji made an extremely outrageous request—he wanted the two of them to Projection the buildings on the battle stage one by one.

"Wouldn't it be easier to just have someone make the props?"

"Most buildings will definitely do that, but some key buildings will still need Projection."

Shinji shook his finger and said, "First of all, in terms of precision, the model is definitely not as detailed as the Projection, especially when it comes to interior decoration."

"Secondly, building structures using Projection is much faster than making models."

"Also, you can control the overall strength of the Projection buildings, which will make it easier to destroy them during fight scenes."

"Finally, and most importantly, the buildings you Projection have magic. When the film is shown, the effect of the destroyed fragments appearing off-screen will be fantastic."

Hearing Shinji's long lecture, Shirou sighed dejectedly, "After this movie is finished, will my Reality Marble turn into the Infinite Tower?"

He could already imagine his inner world filled with rows of buildings.

Chapter 125 Why advertise if you weren't paid?

Although Red A and Shirou have been assigned to work as architects in Yokohama City, they will not be taking up their posts anytime soon.

After all, the time to film Ultraman's battles hasn't come yet.

Red A will continue to endure Master Li's torment, while Shirou will travel to Yokohama City Location Shoot crew.

Of course, the film crew went to Yokohama to shoot the scenery, and then seamlessly edited it into the movie.

Shirou, on the other hand, went to analyze the architecture of Yokohama to facilitate his and Red A's future Projection.

Just like when the two fight in UBW, when Shirou and Red A make physical contact, they can share related memories.

Therefore, even if Red A cannot go to Yokohama City, he can still obtain information about the relevant buildings.

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In short, with all departments of the production team starting to operate, filming for <Super 8> has officially begun.

As the main setting for the storyline, Yokohama will certainly have a significant role in the film.

It's important to know that the movie "Super 8" is not only the second theatrical film of Ultraman Mebius, but also a commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the opening of Yokohama Port.

This is why Daigo's job in the movie is as an employee of the Yokohama Tourism Bureau, just to give more screen time to Yokohama's tourist attractions.

It gives the impression that Peter Jack deliberately filmed more landscape scenes in "The Lord of the Rings" to showcase the beauty of New Zealand.

However, the original release date for "Super 8" was 2008, while the current release date is 2005. It's a bit unreasonable to commemorate its 150th anniversary now.

If others didn't know better, they'd think the Second Master was casting a spell to curse Yokohama Port so it wouldn't live to be 150 years old.

Therefore, Shinji will not include many shots of Yokohama attractions, instead dedicating sufficient time to the film's plot and action sequences.

More importantly, Yokohama didn't pay Shinji for advertising, so Second Master naturally had no reason to advertise for them.

However, some of Yokohama's iconic buildings still appear in the movie, not for advertising, but for vandalism.

Destroying iconic buildings is a common trope in commercial films; the most famous example is the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.

As a commercial Director, Shinji naturally had to satisfy the audience's destructive desires, so various building collapses and other acts of destruction were indispensable in his films.

However, what kind of monster Shinji will use, and what method he will use to demolish Yokohama City, is a matter for later.

On set right now, they're filming the scene where Tiga transforms into Daigo amidst the ruins.

Of course, the so-called ruins are not actual city ruins, but rather scenes constructed from foam.

The footage after filming is not the final product; it will undergo further CG rendering to achieve the ideal state in Shinji's mind.

Shinji has always had high standards for the post-production of his films, so post-production has always been a major part of his time and effort.

Unlike his previous work on FSN and FZ, Shinji does not intend to have the post-production CG effects done by Tsuburaya Productions.

This is partly because Tsuburaya Productions is currently working on the post-production special effects for the Ultraman Mebius TV series, and probably doesn't have the capacity to support the production of special effects for the theatrical version.

On the other hand, it's because the special effects this time will involve Magecraft tricks, and there will be many places where Magecraft will be used.

Handing it over to Tsuburaya Productions would not be conducive to the development of these post-production tasks.

Moreover, compared to Tsuburaya Productions in Tokyo, the Type-Moon post-production studio in Fuyuki City is obviously more convenient, so there's no need to go the long way around.

It's frustrating for the Second Master. The Type-Moon Post-Production Studio in Fuyuki City has taken on several projects since it opened, but he, the studio owner, has never had the studio participate in the production of a single film.

This made Shinji question the purpose of setting up this studio in the first place—was it to provide benefits to other film crews shooting in Fuyuki City?

However, while having all the film production done in Fuyuki City is a good thing for Shinji, it might not be so good for others.

In the past, if companies in Tokyo needed to contact Shinji, they could simply wait for him to come to Tokyo to communicate with them.

Now, they have no choice but to send people to Fuyuki City for exchanges.

And so, Shinji has now met the TBS Television representative who came to see him on set.

The other party first brought good news to Second Master.

Shinji didn't actually think this was good news; it was more like a pointless statement—UBW had become incredibly popular.

Currently, UBW's broadcast is nearing its end. Apart from the eighth episode, which benefited from the holiday season, the remaining episodes have also maintained viewership ratings above 40%.

In the world of Japanese Drama, this can be considered a phenomenal number.

Not only in Japan, but UBW also reached 17 million viewers in North America.

This even gave HBO Television a small boost in subscriptions.

Because all the fans know that after UBW finishes airing, HF will air on HBO, a pay-TV channel.

TBS can't control what happens in North America, but they've placed the UBW at the highest level of importance a television station can.

Unfortunately, TBS hasn't been doing so well these past few years; the last time they had a hit drama like this was before.

This isn't just empty talk; it's because so much time has passed that even TBS itself has forgotten its last glorious moment.

Therefore, everyone is very happy that UBW will allow the entire TBS to relive its old glory and once again enjoy crushing other stations in ratings.

Meanwhile, Shirou and Red A, who played the lead and second male lead respectively in the series, also became incredibly popular.

This pair of "insiders" who love and hate each other on television have become idols adored by countless people in real life.

Although Shirou and Red A's fans aren't as fervent as Diarmuid's, their fanbase is largely comprised of viewers who grew up watching the TV series, thus reaching a wider audience.

In particular, Shirou Emiya's drastically different performances in the movie and TV series have divided Fate fans into two factions: one focused on the movie and the other on the TV series.

These two fan groups naturally dislike each other and often argue, but their conflict hasn't escalated to a very serious level.

This is mainly because of the existence of a third party – Shirou * Red A Party.

Films and television works that feature exciting duels between two heroes often generate supporters who pair the two characters as a couple.

UBW is no exception.

Furthermore, because the duel between Shirou and Red A was so exciting, and the combination of "self * self" was so wonderful, the Shirou * Red A shipping party became so powerful that it separated from the drama viewers.

Because UBW is so popular, TBS staff specifically approached Shinji, hoping to extend the storyline and perhaps even create a second season of UBW.

"Shinji," the TBS representative pleaded with great distress, "UBW is just too popular. Haven't you considered changing the ending and having another season?"

The phenomenon of sequels being made due to fires is not unique to American Drama; it's also common in Japanese Dramas, and could even be considered a tradition.

For example, a certain late-night drama that became a hit because of a middle-aged man's mukbang (eating broadcast) has already been continued to its ninth season.

Unfortunately, Shinji has no intention of following the traditions of this circle.

"Even if I change the ending, it's pointless. The Holy Grail War has reached its current stage; it's already nearing its end no matter what. Continuing the story might not get bad ratings, but that would just be a poor sequel."

Shinji looked at the other person and retorted, "Didn't we originally plan for only one season?"

That's right!

The TBS representative nodded, but then added reluctantly, "But to be honest, we didn't expect UBW to be so popular. It's a bit much that such a popular show ended in just one season..."

"That's the charm of the Fate story. Because it's the Holy Grail War, there has to be a conclusion, unlike other movies and TV shows that can go on indefinitely."

Shinji smiled and said, "I think this is good. A story that ends at the right time is far more memorable than those stories that never end."

"That's what they say..." The TBS representative scratched his head, "But besides the Holy Grail War, there are many other stories to tell, right? Like how Shirou Emiya became Archer."

"That's a completely different story."

Shinji shrugged.

"For UBW, one season is just right. Forcing a continuation would only cause the story to fall apart and ultimately lead to a decline in its reputation."

"Personally," Shinji continued, "I value Heavy Moon Studio's reputation in the television drama field more. As for profitable films and television series, that's a secondary concern."