EMIYA: Shinji, Try Acting Like a Decent Human Being

Joan of Arc really wants to throw in a couple of France swear words.

Finally, out of religious compassion, Joan of Arc suppressed the urge to curse and said, "Master, why did you arrange that scene? It was completely pointless."

How can you call it meaningless?

Shinji, sipping his coffee, explained, "The first shot of a character's introduction is extremely important for character development, because it determines the audience's first impression of the character."

"What does this have to do with embarrassing me?"

"Of course," Shinji replied. "Both you Laeticia are pure girls, like white lotus flowers."

Joan of Arc squinted and asked, "Master, why do I feel like you're not praising me?"

"That's not the point." Shinji waved his hand. "The point is how to portray your innocence. The best way is to make yourself seem easy to fool, because in the public's mind, slightly clumsy girls are easier to fool, and easy-to-fool girls are as harmless and pure as blank sheets of paper."

Joan of Arc's eyes twitched violently. "Master, that's not a compliment at all!"

"That can't be helped. Because Joan of Arc, you were indeed fooled by me in the movie."

Amakusa joined the conversation, laughing heartily as he sat down.

"If it weren't for the script requirements... how could I possibly have been deceived by you!"

Joan of Arc crossed her arms and gave a cold snort, showing her extreme unwillingness.

She was certain that her Master simply enjoyed teasing his Servants.

In contrast, Amakusa, the other protagonist of the film and Joan of Arc of Arc's partner, trusts Master more.

"A Master who can accurately express my wishes without mocking my ideals must be a true confidant; how could he possibly be a bad person?"

"Since Master has made this request, Joan of Arc, you should do as he says. Master is unlikely to make a mistake."

At this point, Amakusa acted as if he and Master were very familiar with each other.

Joan of Arc really wanted to complain about this.

Knowing your dreams is one thing; whether someone is a good person is another entirely.

Look at all those Heroic Spirit summoned to the mortal realm—which one of them truly praises their Master?

Joan of Arc even suspected that it was Amakusa's unwavering obedience to the Master that led him to become the male lead in Fate/Apocrypha.

According to Joan of Arc, the original plan for the FA movie was to cast someone else as the male lead, with Amakusa merely playing the villain, or to put it bluntly, just a minor extra.

The latecomer surpasses the former; isn't that why Amakusa keeps praising Shinji?

Amakusa refuted Joan of Arc's question with a confident and justified argument.

"This is clearly Master understanding my ideals and giving me more platforms to express them! How can you say I'm praising Master?"

"Does Master even need to boast? He must be just like me, a noble person who longs to help the hearts of all people!"

"..."

Joan of Arc hasn't reacted much yet, but Shinji himself seems a bit embarrassed by what Amakusa said.

But he couldn't refute it.

What if one Amakusa gets dark and climbs into your bed to chop you up?

"Ahem, I'm off now. Don't be late for your classes later."

Shinji rose from his seat amidst Joan of Arc's disdainful gaze.

As Joan of Arc watched Shinji leave, she suddenly spoke without any emotion, "Mr. Amakusa, why don't you just become Master's spokesperson?"

Amakusa and said, "That's not a bad idea. Master and I might as well form a [Save All Humanity Club]."

"Yes, I believe Master will like it."

Miss Joan of Arc of Arc slyly agreed.

[Although I've gone astray, I've finally tasted the thrill of tricking my Master. Mr. Archer, is this how you all gradually degenerate?]

Lord, please forgive me.

Chapter 203 Red A: Shinji, have some decency!

After giving Amakusa a perfunctory and perfunctory response, Joan of Arc d'Arc subtly ushered him out.

She was enjoying a rare moment of relaxation at a roadside cafe, and she certainly didn't want to be disturbed again and again by a few nasty men.

"How relaxing and comfortable!"

Joan of Arc ate her cake while her mind wandered.

So much so that when she saw Shinji and Mordred whispering to each other as they quickly walked into a Japanese-style clothing store across the street, Joan of Arc didn't react for a moment.

"Those two guys... they're here again..."

Joan of Arc sighed helplessly, rubbing her forehead.

Outsiders to the production crew might easily assume that there was some kind of scandal, like a secret romance, between the genius Director Shinji Matou and the newcomer actress Mordred.

However, as someone inside the production team, Joan of Arc of Arc knew more.

"Master is probably giving Mordred some terrible advice again."

Mordred desperately wanted to improve her relationship with her "father," Artoria, Shinji took advantage of this by feigning help.

With a penchant for stirring up trouble, Shinji always gives Mordred advice, and it's always terrible advice.

It wasn't exactly a bad idea; Shinji's advice to Mordred was somewhat useful. At least Joan of Arc knew that King Arthur, who shared her face, now knew how infatuated her child was with her.

"However, Mordred Knight is now being treated like a pervert. What on earth is Master doing...? Wait, could this be Master's calculation?"

Seeing Mordred walk out of the store excitedly carrying a bag, Shinji, who was following behind her, revealed a sinister smile.

Joan of Arc suddenly felt as if she had discovered the truth.

"Forget it, that's their Britain family matter, it has nothing to do with me."

Joan of Arc closed her eyes, refusing to look.

In short, Joan of Arc of Arc's afternoon tea at the roadside café has come to an end.

On the other hand, the Location Shoot shooting for the FA series has become increasingly busy.

A few days later, Location Shoot fictional Romania town of Tifas was fully constructed, and the crew was about to begin filming scenes within the town.

There are advantages to using set construction when it's impossible to film on location in Western Europe.

At least the design of the town of Tifas allows Shinji to create whatever he wants without worrying about being limited by the constraints of filming in a real town, which could lead to continuity errors.

Typically, film crews build such Location Shoot sets using wood, plastic, and cardboard.

For example, the kind of street where cowboys duel, lined with wooden houses on both sides, often seen in Hollywood Westerns.

Ninety-nine percent of them are made of pieces of cardboard and wood.

From another perspective, there are no houses at all, only supporting frames for the planks.

However, the Tifas built by FA is not necessarily so; as Artoria had previously visited, this city is much more realistic.

Those prop houses are actually inside, and most of the rooms are real—although they are all "cloned rooms" with similar decor.

Shinji's purpose in building the town in this way was naturally for the sake of realism.

Unlike Westerns where cowboys duel while people merely watch from the outside, many fight scenes in FA involve the destruction of buildings.

To ensure realism and to make filming action scenes later easier.

Shinji simply recreated parts of the town realistically according to the needs of the shots.

To ensure that certain houses could be fully repaired after being damaged due to various issues, Shinji specifically invited his two master architects— Mr. A and Wei Shaonian.

"Who are Mr. A and Wei Shaonian?! Shinji, are you kidding me?!"

Red A slammed a building structure drawing onto the table.

Shinji laughed and said, "Isn't that your and Shirou's stage names? These days, it's popular for people in the entertainment industry not to use their real names."

Red A pulled out Gan Jiang Mo Ye and held them against Shinji's neck. "Don't give me that crap, or I'll slash your throat!"

"I understand, don't get excited, Archer-san~"

Shinji reluctantly raised his hand.

"Tsk."

Red A gave a disgruntled snort and slowly sheathed his blade.

"That kid (Shirou) and I built this 'city' exactly according to your requirements, and we even conducted a structural analysis. If you're not satisfied with the damage to any part of the buildings, we can Projection to fill in the gaps, and then have the Heroic Spirit destroy it again."

Red A introduced it to Shinji.

"I don't think there will be any problems with the scenery. It's just the extras..."

At this point, Red A shrugged, making a helpless expression.

Since the start of filming for the FSN movie, Shinji has primarily hired locals from Fuyuki City for his extras.

FSN and FZ are fine, since they both take place in Japan, so using Japan as background characters is perfectly acceptable.

However, the story of FA takes place in Romania in Western Europe, so it's impossible to use citizens of Fuyuki City as extras.

A small town in Western Europe with an entirely Japan population... just imagining that scene is beautiful enough!

Japan does have foreign actors who specialize in playing minor roles, but those actors are all concentrated in Tokyo, and they might not be willing to participate in FA.

After all, Shinji only wants background characters without any lines; they might not even show their faces.

Shinji certainly couldn't pay a high salary for such a role; it might not even cover the cost of a train ticket from Tokyo to Fuyuki City for the entire film.

Of course, these extras won't just act in one scene and be done with it. As background figures throughout the film, they may participate in several scenes over a period of time, spanning the entire filming period.

If you're a local from Fuyuki City, then earning extra money in addition to your main job is a good thing.

But it makes those actors, who are far away in Tokyo, travel back and forth between Tokyo and Fuyuki City for just a few trivial shots...

Shinji himself was too embarrassed to go to Tokyo to recruit extras.

As for finding someone from abroad, that's even more impossible; the cost would be higher than searching in Tokyo.

The best solution would be for Shinji to go to Tokyo and bring a group of foreign extras to Fuyuki City to stay permanently, and then send them back to Tokyo after filming is finished.

This means that Shinji also has to provide these actors with food and lodging, which will cost the production team a considerable amount of money.

Of course, this money is a normal expense during filming, Shinji can easily pass it by simply including it in the cost plan.

But Shinji and Red A, who is naturally a busybody, felt that the money was not well spent.

Why spend money you could easily save?

It's easy to find extras with lines; at worst, we can have Xiao En and Little Yi Ge take on multiple roles.

However, dealing with a large number of background actors presents a challenge. If there are too few people, the town in the film will lack "life" and appear very fake.

With more people, the labor costs for movies are skyrocketing, making it unpleasant to watch.

"If we use special effects to replicate it... it would look very fake, and there's also the cost issue."

Shinji stroked his chin thoughtfully.

Red A suddenly asked, "Should we ask those Britain guests for help?"

The so-called guests from Britain refer to the Clock Tower Magecraft who came to Japan with Leinys to seek refuge.

The vast majority of these people are foreigners; if they're just there as background figures, it's not a big problem.

"There shouldn't be any problems in the early stages," Shinji replied hesitantly, "But what if Waver gets things sorted out, and they have to go back to Britain? What if the movie isn't finished yet?"

Red A scoffed and replied, "Let's talk about that then. They might stay here for years. Those old fogies in the Clock Tower aren't so easy to deal with."

Shinji scoffed, "You talk as if you know anything about those old fogies."

Red A raised an eyebrow. "Of course I know."

"Damn, I forgot about that."

Shinji slapped his forehead, only then remembering Red A's experience.

"Okay, let's let them participate in the filming for now, and try to bring forward the scenes with extras, then there won't be any problems."

Shinji was taking notes in his notebook as he spoke.