"Not just coldness." Shinji shook his head and explained to Kiritsugu, "Besides being cold, you also need to show your naive disdain and mockery of the King of Knights in your expression."
As a director, Shinji had always believed in "showing, not telling."
In Shinji's view, one contemptuous, mocking look from Kiritsugu was worth more than telling everyone a thousand times that King Arthur was naive.
Showing your inner emotions on your face was far more effective than expressing them through dialogue.
Take episode 15 of Zeta, the one that became legendary, for example: Haruki shaking hands with his father in the past.
His father never spoke of how much he had missed him. Haruki only called out "Father" at the very end, but the actor conveyed everything he was feeling through his expression. That was far more effective than having the character say "Daddy, I missed you so much" ten thousand times.
"As for Artoria..."
He turned to look at Artoria. The King of Knights had finished her burger and was listening very attentively.
"Don't tell me that after filming a TV series for over a month, all you learned was how to eat without needing your makeup touched up."
Artoria protested loudly, "Of course not! Master, you're underestimating me!"
"I've told you countless times. On set, don't call me Master. Call me Director!"
Shinji tapped Artoria on the head with his director's megaphone.
"Yes, Master! Just watch! I'll make sure you're satisfied!"
Artoria clenched her fists and promised him.
"Then show me!"
Unlike with Kiritsugu, Shinji didn't tell Artoria exactly how she should perform.
Unlike Kiritsugu, who was only taking part for fun, Artoria was an actress Shinji was focused on cultivating. He hoped she could figure out how to act on her own.
Telling an actor directly what to do would only make their performance stiff. Shinji had already seen that for himself in FSN.
"Good luck, Artoria." Shinji patted her on the shoulder and gestured toward the edge of the set. "You wouldn't want your old subordinate to see you looking pathetic, would you?"
Following her Master's gaze, Artoria spotted Lancelot, who was filming her with a handheld camcorder.
"My king! You can do it!"
Noticing Artoria looking his way, Lancelot waved at her with a radiant smile. He looked just like a parent filming their child on a school open day.
"That guy..."
The ahoge on Artoria's head shot straight up, and a vein throbbed on her forehead.
[Tristan may have said I don't understand people, but I really don't want to understand this guy...]
"Master, can't you just kick him out?"
Perhaps because this strange cheering squad made her feel out of place, Artoria was overcome by a rare feeling of embarrassment.
"You need to do your best."
Shinji didn't agree. He only gave her a knowing smile.
"I understand." Artoria nodded helplessly. "Please give me a few minutes, Master. I need to get into character."
"OK."
Shinji waved and left the set.
Since he had already said all he needed to say, Shinji decided to give Kiritsugu and Artoria some space. As scene partners, the two of them needed to talk things over.
But Shinji didn't rest while Artoria took a few minutes to get into character. He called over Touko, who was now the head of the props team.
"Senpai, will we have any problems filming tomorrow's action scenes?" Shinji asked Touko.
"Don't worry. I've made everything according to your requirements." Touko pulled something out of a bag. "I even brought a sample. Take a look."
As he watched the long, writhing object in Touko's hand, Shinji couldn't help but break into a cold sweat.
It was a sample of the Sea Monster's tentacle. Since the Marshal had assigned Little Yi Ge to play it, the props team had to make the relevant equipment themselves.
But with such a beautiful woman as Touko holding something so easy to misunderstand, anyone who didn't know better might think she was browsing the more hardcore section.
"Is this thing alive?" Shinji prodded it with his finger, and the tentacle in Touko's hand tried to stab him with one of its spikes.
"Of course not. Keeping it alive would be way too much trouble." Touko shook her head. "If I had to describe it, I'd say it's like an automaton. It can only perform the most basic reflexive movements, though."
"That'll be enough." Shinji nodded with satisfaction. "How many can you make before filming tomorrow?"
Touko thought for a moment, then gave him a number. "Twelve to fifteen?"
"That should be enough for tomorrow's shots." Shinji jotted down a couple of notes in his notebook. "How long will it take to make the large-scale Sea Monster props?"
"Hang on, underclassman." Touko asked in surprise, "You're not actually planning to make a monster like the one in the script, are you?"
Shinji explained, "Not the whole thing, obviously. That would be too much of a waste. But we'll still need life-size props, as well as props that perfectly recreate certain parts of it."
Touko tapped her head. "Give me the specific requirements. I can't figure out what you need from that."
"Take a look."
Shinji didn't waste any time. He wrote down what he needed in his notebook and handed it to Touko.
"Wait a moment. I'll discuss this with the others at the studio."
Touko took the notebook, glanced over it, then turned and made a phone call.
While Touko was on the phone, Shinji beckoned to Cú Chulainn, who tossed him a bottle of water.
"Thanks."
Shinji unscrewed the cap and took a long drink. He'd been talking nonstop on set and was parched.
"Sometimes I really envy you Heroic Spirits," Shinji teased Cú Chulainn. "As long as you have magical energy, you can keep your body in top condition."
"Well, we are dead, after all~"
Cú Chulainn laughed without a trace of discomfort.
"Heh."
Shinji gave a couple of grunts as he kept drinking, which was answer enough.
"But you're something else, Master." Cú Chulainn looked with interest at the tentacle Touko had left behind. "I thought you were going to have someone wear a sea monster suit and act in it."
"That's impossible. A suit wouldn't get the effect I'm looking for."
Though Shinji was a tokusatsu fan, he didn't consider tokusatsu the be-all and end-all.
There was nothing wrong with performing in a suit, but there were limits to what a suit could do. There was no way to recreate the Sea Monster's many tentacles moving nimbly at the same time by acting in one.
The suit's level of detail was another problem. Shinji didn't want the Sea Monster's spikes to look too fleshy, either.
"Cú Chulainn, you seem pretty eager to wear a suit. Don't tell me you want to appear in this movie as a suit actor?"
Cú Chulainn waved his hands repeatedly. "No way! I'm too handsome not to show my face! If you don't mind, Master... I could play a passerby who gets killed by the Sea Monster."
[So that's why you came over here, isn't it?]
Shinji had seen right through the big dog's acting addiction.
"Show your face, huh... If you really want to act, we do need an actor with decent skills for this afternoon's shoot."
Shinji suddenly thought of something and turned to Cú Chulainn.
"I was going to have Yan Qing play the part, but he already has enough roles. Why don't you give it a try?"
"Really?! I'd love to!!"
Cú Chulainn nodded excitedly, looking every bit the eager dog.
But when the afternoon came...
"Master, this is absolutely not the role I wanted!"
At the center of the set, Cú Chulainn wore a black bodysuit and a white skull mask, looking every bit like an Assassin as he loudly complained to Shinji.
"And how am I supposed to show my face with this white skull mask on?"
"Of course you'll have a face-reveal shot." Shinji spread his hands and smiled. "There'll be one frame of you showing your face when Gilgamesh kills you, Zaid."
"Who's Zaid?!"
Cú Chulainn angrily hurled the white skull mask to the ground.
Cú Chulainn Died Again!
Aside from Gilles de Rais, the French Marshal, Hundred Faces was the only other Heroic Spirit Shinji hadn't summoned for FZ.
The reason was simple: Shinji wasn't sure he could summon Hundred Faces successfully.
Without cheating, the Fuyuki City Holy Grail War system would only select a Hassan for the Assassin class.
Apart from one particular Grand old man, which Hassan was summoned came down entirely to luck.
But for Shinji, who was filming FZ, summoning anyone other than Hundred Faces would have been pointless.
Rather than waste time and effort summoning a Heroic Spirit, it was better to have someone already there play Hundred Faces.
After all, unlike Cursed Arm, Hundred Faces didn't have a special Noble Phantasm. All they needed was an actor with a decent build wearing a black bodysuit and a skull mask, and the job was done.
And that was how Cú Chulainn ended up standing on set dressed as Hassan.
In fact, aside from Big Doggy, another frequently appearing Hundred Faces alter, the purple-haired girl with a single ponytail, was played by Medusa.
From Shinji's perspective as the film's producer, casting the dog and Rider as Hassan was a win-win.
In terms of skill and martial ability, the dog and the others were absolutely top-tier. Playing a Hassan would be no problem for them.
Besides, the dog and Rider had already appeared in FSN, so they didn't need any additional training. They could start right away.
The shot of the dog showing his face at the end could even be used to promote the movie as a special cameo.
The audience already knew the movie was fake anyway. A cameo like that would only make it more fun for them.
Everyone was happy, except Cú Chulainn himself.
"Tch, what a bully, Master."
Cú Chulainn pursed his lips and twisted his neck, looking thoroughly displeased.
"You said you'd give me a role, but this is just making me do grunt work."
Medusa pushed up her glasses and sneered. "How long have you known him? You still don't understand? If he can get two things done for the price of one, he'll never pay a penny and a half."
Cú Chulainn sighed helplessly. "I get it. I'll do it. Then, once again, I'm in your hands, Master~~"
Cú Chulainn wasn't addressing Shinji when he said Master. He was speaking to Kirei Kotomine.
To show how much FZ differed from FSN, Kirei Kotomine had specifically cut off his long hair and changed to a short hairstyle.
It did make Kirei look a lot younger, but it hadn't changed his fundamental nature as a glutton.
[I wonder if there'll be Mapo Tofu for lunch?]
Standing on the fake hill, Kirei Kotomine completely ignored Cú Chulainn's greeting and simply gazed ahead with an impassive expression.
"...One after another, they're all like this."
Cú Chulainn felt like he and his Masters were destined to clash. It was bad enough that Shinji kept messing with him in real life, but in the movie, Kirei Kotomine kept selling out his allies, too.
Twice, at that.
And both times, Gilgamesh had been the one to do it.
"What did I do to deserve this?" Cú Chulainn felt that his future was utterly bleak.
Outside the set, Shinji made sure every department was ready and confirmed that the camera track was clear before nodding to the script supervisor.
"FZ, Scene 7, Take 1..."
The script supervisor held the slate in front of the camera lens and called out, "Action!"
On the set before the camera, Cú Chulainn had already put on his white skull mask and turned incorporeal. As soon as he heard the call to start, he appeared behind Kirei Kotomine.
"Master."
Cú Chulainn deliberately lowered his voice, making it hoarse to emphasize the difference between their roles.
"The last Servant has been summoned. The Holy Grail War has officially begun."
Looking down at the garden of the Tohsaka Residence, built by the props team, Kirei Kotomine delivered his orders in a voice devoid of emotion.
Before you continue