Don't Call Me Master, Call Me Director

Moreover, Shinji believed the Mage associations would also be very interested in his plan.

Due to the Mages' tradition of discretion, ordinary people knew very little about them, leading to fewer new Mages each year.

Failing to recruit suitable students had become a major problem for many Mage factions.

If Shinji succeeded, filming movies with Magecraft would undoubtedly expand Magecraft's influence and provide new students for the various Mage factions.

This was remarkably similar to how the kung fu movie craze in Shinji's previous life had spurred traditional martial arts schools to recruit students.

When Shinji presented this plan to Matou Zouken to ask if it was feasible.

Matou Zouken was very interested in Shinji's plan, encouraging Shinji to proceed boldly while also offering strong support.

After all, the Matou Family wasn't lacking in funds; even if Shinji failed, he would still live a life of comfort and security.

If it succeeded, Shinji would be a hero to the entire Mage world, and the Matou Family might even attain a prestigious position within it.

Shinji himself was quite capable, achieving considerable accomplishments in Magecraft within just a few years. And upon Matou Zouken's recommendation, he had the opportunity to study further at the Clock Tower four years ago.

After auditing classes at the Clock Tower for nearly two years, Shinji not only grasped the overall Magecraft level of this world but also confirmed that his plan could be fully realized with existing Magecraft technology.

Having learned all this, Shinji left the Clock Tower and went to the University of Southern California to continue auditing film production courses, even taking time to intern on Hollywood film sets.

He had no choice; Shinji had been a shut-in in his previous life. He had watched many good works, but he still needed to acquire professional knowledge on how to create them.

After staying in the United States for over a year and feeling that his professional skills in both Magecraft and filmmaking were sufficiently developed, Shinji returned to the Clock Tower.

This time, he wasn't there to attend classes but to find partners.

This plan was too enormous for the Matou Family to support alone; Shinji needed a partner with considerable influence in the Mage world.

Ultimately, Shinji found the Archibald Family, where Kirei Kotomine resided, and reached a cooperation agreement with Kirei Kotomine.

The reason for choosing Kirei Kotomine wasn't familiarity, but simply because Kirei Kotomine and his Archibald Family were the most powerful potential partners Shinji could find.

Stronger forces than the Archibald Family either disdained Shinji or looked down upon his so-called modern entertainment plan.

Those old men, who were as ancient as Mummies and could be displayed in museums, believed only in tradition, thinking that noble Magecraft should never stoop to pleasing ordinary people like street clowns.

Just thinking about how these people didn't even use phones and insisted on communicating via familiars, with some even clinging to bloodline inheritance, made Shinji speechless. He had only one thing to say to these relics.

"Go live with the Fat-faced Scottish Chickens at Hogwarts!" (middle finger)

Fortunately, there were proactive Mage families at the Clock Tower embracing modernization. Besides Kirei Kotomine's Archibald Family, Shinji found several other potential partners.

After completing all preliminary preparations and establishing the so-called "Type-Moon Film Company," Shinji returned to his hometown of Fuyuki City with his project to begin his grand plan.

And the first step of this plan was to film the movie Fate/stay night.

However, despite thorough preparations, numerous issues arose during the actual filming.

For instance, this one—

"Hmm?"

On set, Shinji picked up a poster that was meant to be a prop.

In the movie script, Shirou Emiya used this poster to briefly fend off Cú Chulainn. After it was used as a shield to block a shot, the poster was ruined.

It was an ordinary prop in FSN, yet...

"Who chose this poster?"

Shinji asked with a dark expression.

The content of the poster itself was fine; it was a gym advertisement.

But after a bullet hole was made in it, it became rather inappropriate, as the hole landed precisely on the lower body of the muscular man in the poster.

"Someone, replace this poster with one of a young idol... no, change it to a ramen shop flyer."

Fortunately, Shinji immediately realized that a hole in a beautiful girl would be even stranger, and the scene of Lancer piercing the poster would likely veer into R-rated territory.

Watching the departing staff, Shinji shook his head helplessly.

"Truly... making a movie is such meticulous work."

Shinji clutched his forehead and sighed.

Chapter 3: Since Your Mouth is Sweet, Eat More Candy

Some things, until you actually do them, you never realize how difficult they are.

Especially for film, a fusion of industry and art, every excellent movie embodies the unimaginable efforts of the crew members.

Even with two lives, even with studies in Hollywood, even with legendary heroes acting as cast members, Shinji still reshot these few minutes of footage over and over again to capture the perfect scene in his mind.

During each break in filming, Shinji would make adjustments based on the problems from the previous take.

Dozens of crew members worked diligently for half a day before finally achieving the desired filming effect that Shinji had envisioned.

"Finally done."

Looking at the footage on the monitor, Shinji finally breathed a slight sigh of relief.

The warehouse scene didn't involve much action, but it was one of the most important scenes in the entire film.

This is the female protagonist's first formal appearance, a scene crucial to her character.

In his past life, countless Type-Moon fans—including Shinji himself—were captivated by the beauty of the knightly maiden under the moonlight, which led them to dive headfirst into the deep pit of Type-Moon.

To ensure the audience was drawn to Artoria from the very first glance, Shinji racked his brain, even resorting to soft lighting for the scene.

This technique is often used in filmmaking to emphasize a character's divine aura, much like the elves in The Lord of the Rings who always appear with special effects.

Of course, Shinji's approach differed from traditional filmmaking. He directly had Artoria channel her magic as she appeared before the camera, causing her armor to emit a silvery-white holy light.

Combined with the arrangement and coordination of other lights on set, a knightly maiden radiating holy brilliance from head to toe, with eyes shining brightly, was brought to life.

This was also a significant reason why Shinji chose Mages and Servants as actors—to have them provide their own special effects during filming.

This way, many shots that would normally require post-processing could be filmed directly, and at a lower cost.

After shooting the video footage, Shinji also took several close-up photos of Artoria with his camera, preparing material for the film's future promotions.

In the photos, Artoria appeared like a Valkyrie descended to earth, perfectly embodying the seemingly contradictory concepts of beauty and power.

Shinji paid particular attention to her eyes; they were elegant and clear, yet held a resolute determination that seemed capable of piercing one's heart and stealing their soul.

Only such a seemingly perfect maiden knight could stir the audience's emotions and completely captivate everyone, couldn't she?

Although the female protagonist's introductory scene was completed, it didn't mean the FSN crew's subsequent work would go smoothly.

To make this film a benchmark and model for Mage films, and more importantly, to preserve the core secrets of Magecraft.

Shinji employed a large number of Mage staff, especially in the acting department, essentially using the "original cast" of FSN.

This meant the set was filled with newcomers.

Especially the Heroic Spirits represented by Artoria, having been summoned to modern society, they couldn't immediately adapt to the work of filming.

Action scenes were manageable; as long as they fought within the designated camera frame and avoided damaging props, the rest was ensuring the cameras captured the thrilling moments of the Servants' battles.

For the FSN crew, the biggest problem lay in the dramatic scenes: positioning, lines, expressions, actions... almost every take was accompanied by various errors.

Take the current scene, for example, where Artoria and Cú Chulainn are fighting in the Emiya residence's courtyard.

Artoria's combat performance was decent, but when Cú Chulainn confronted her, her facial expression and tone of voice changed.

To be more precise, Artoria's emotions were too exposed, giving a strong sense of artificial performance.

"Cut!"

Shinji called a halt to the entire crew. "That's enough for now, everyone take a break. We'll resume in an hour."

After all that effort, even the energetic Shinji needed a breather.

He sat directly in the living room of the Emiya residence, and Sakura quickly brought him a cup of coffee.

"Thanks, Sakura."

Savoring the masterpiece made by the sister he was so proud of, the tension on his face gradually eased.

"I'm sorry, Master..."

Artoria sat on the tatami mat with her head bowed.

She knew she was the reason for the repeated retakes and felt very guilty.

"It's all my fault, I'm not doing well enough."

Shinji waved his hand casually. "It's fine, being serious is a good thing. You don't need to blame yourself too much."

Although Shinji was indeed a bit troubled, seeing Artoria's guilty and conflicted cute expression immediately cheered him up.

[New expression unlocked. Feels like unlocking character CGs in a game.]

Putting down his coffee cup, Shinji glanced at the cold beauty.

The proud Artoria must have felt resentful about hindering the crew, and if she dwelled on it, future filming might become even more arduous.

For such a girl, Shinji had his own methods of encouragement.

"Saber, you should be more natural. Stop thinking about the camera. Just imagine you're really meeting Cú Chulainn in the Holy Grail War and perform as yourself."

"Mainly when I'm reciting the lines..." Artoria said haltingly, "I always unconsciously want to just recite them."

Shinji looked at Artoria, hearing her effort and persistence in her words.

Even if it wasn't for the Holy Grail, this knight was still a dutiful and trustworthy partner in the Holy Grail War.

"Master, I think..."

Artoria looked up at Shinji and saw him give her an encouraging smile.

"Artoria, you're already doing great."

Shinji propped up his chin, a smile filling his face. "I think you have more room to express yourself like this."

"Huh?"

Artoria frowned slightly, unsure what her Master was up to.

Strictly speaking, Shinji was not Artoria's ideal Master. Even though Artoria admired his talent in Magecraft, Shinji's personality was too frivolous and unreliable.

This reminded Artoria of her former knight, Lancelot.

That Knight of the Lake was also a very strong individual, though his personal conduct was a bit questionable; he was quite adept at charming young women.

No, he's far more frivolous than Sir Lancelot.

Artoria's emerald eyes gazed at the blue-haired youth before her.

Shinji wasn't aware that his Servant was mentally criticizing him. He presented the suggestion he'd just thought of to her.

"Like this, I'll hang cue cards on either side of the camera and write the important information on them. That way, you can just improvise based on that information and won't have to memorize fixed script lines."

"What?" Artoria's eyes widened, finding it somewhat unbelievable. "Will that really work?"

Before filming began, she had attended a short-term acting training class. No matter how inexperienced she was in acting, Artoria knew the difficulty of performing without a script.

"Of course, it will," Shinji's slightly wicked smile revealed an indescribable look of pleasure. "The character in the original script was you yourself. For this movie, being yourself in front of the camera is the most perfect, ultimate form."

"That... if you put it that way, then yes."

A glimmer of light finally appeared on Artoria's originally melancholic face.

"I just need to act like myself in front of the camera! Master, you truly are a genius!"

"Just call me Shinji," Shinji said, giving a thumbs-up. "We'll be spending a lot of time together from now on, so there's no need to be so formal."

In his past life, Saber was the cash cow of Type-Moon. In this life, she would be his cash cow and ace.

Shinji always treated such high-quality employees with a friendly attitude.

Of course, it would be even more perfect if she could show a shy, maiden-like expression. Shinji eagerly anticipated the moment she would completely open up to him.

"Then I'll go tell Lancer about your suggestion."

Artoria eagerly stood up.

"Thank you so much, Mas... Shinji."

"I'd rather you call me Director."