They Get Paid to Act; You Risk Your Life

[I couldn't break free. It was a dead knot! What was going on??]

Shirou looked down at the ropes binding him. Before he could react, Illya continued.

"This is the last time, big brother. I'll ask you one more time—"

Illya looked at her older brother, brimming with anticipation and excitement.

"Shirou, become mine."

The beautiful, fairy-like Illya said it in a tone that allowed no refusal.

"Yikes..."

Shirou sucked in a sharp breath. He felt something strange shoot from the soles of his feet straight to his head.

For some reason, he had the bizarre feeling that his little sister really was going to make him hers.

"Illya, I'm not yours. I have Saber. As long as Saber is here, I can only fight as her Master."

Shirou was practically forcing the words out through his fear as he recited his lines. He'd reminded himself countless times that this was just filming, not real.

"..."

The little girl was clearly disappointed by her older brother's answer. She simply stared at him.

At last, as if she'd given up, Illya said, "I see. Even you're going to betray me, Shirou."

Illya calmly walked away from Shirou and said coldly, "Fine. If Shirou won't listen to me, then I won't listen to him, either. I let you all off the hook before, but that ends now."

Her voice held nothing but murderous intent.

She casually picked up a metal knife nearby and drew its tip down the bridge of Shirou's nose.

Shirou could even feel the distinctive chill of the metal.

"Illya!" Shirou's expression changed. "What are you doing?"

At that moment, Shirou truly believed Illya was going to kill someone.

In the shadows, Shinji covered his mouth and shook with silent laughter, trying not to burst out laughing and call "Cut."

The metal knife had been his addition. He'd wanted Shirou to feel genuinely threatened, so he'd be more immersed in the performance.

Judging by how tense Shirou looked on camera, it seemed to be working very well.

"Don't worry. I won't do anything to Shirou right now."

Illya in the shot seemed pleased with Shirou's expression. She set the knife aside. "But I'm going to kill Saber and Rin. Then maybe Shirou will regret it a little, too?"

Looking at that innocent, adorable smile, Shirou felt that a devil's heart was hidden beneath her angelic appearance.

He struggled desperately, but the ropes around the chair were much tighter than he'd expected.

"Don't just casually say you're going to kill people! You're not suited for that. Illya's still a child—you can't do something like that. Right?"

Fearful pleading crept into Shirou's voice at the end.

Illya seemed startled by his tone and stared at him in a daze.

Fortunately, she quickly got back into character and smiled.

"What a shame. I've already killed someone, big brother~"

Illya answered him with an expression of pure delight.

"I thought big brother would take care of that Seaweed Head, but in the end I had to do it myself. And kelp is so salty~"

"..."

From his director's chair, Master Shinji could clearly feel people looking at him with teasing amusement—and he was certain there was more than one of them!

Shinji glanced sideways and saw that Rin, Sakura, and Artoria were among them.

[You little brats. One and all, you're asking for a beating. Just you wait till Second Master gets his hands on you!]

As he thought this, Master Shinji signaled the camera operator to zoom in on Illya for a close-up.

While the people watching off-camera were taking it easy, Shirou in the shot was nearly scared to death. Illya, wearing an eerie smile, was walking toward him again.

"Illya! You—"

Shirou struggled even harder, but he still couldn't get free.

Three meters, two meters, one meter, half a meter...

They were getting closer and closer, and Shirou felt the danger drawing nearer with every step. He kept struggling, but it was all in vain.

"I'm sorry, Shirou."

Illya stopped in front of him, reached out with her free hand, and gently patted his cheek. Her smile was at once innocent and bewitching.

"Killing Masters—that's the Holy Grail War."

Illya said it as if it were the most natural thing in the world, without a trace of incongruity.

That was the girl named Illya—an Angel-like Demon.

"Cut! Great work, everyone."

Shinji finally called a halt.

There was still a little more to shoot in this scene, but if they carried on, Illya might scare Shirou half to death.

Shirou was the most important male actor in the production. They couldn't have him collapsing halfway through filming.

They could shoot the rest later, and they might as well use a different camera angle while they were at it.

"Big brother Shinji, Illya did great, right?"

The little girl immediately snapped out of her little-demon act and scampered over to Shinji, eager for praise.

Shinji ruffled Illya's hair and praised her. "Mm-hmm. Illya was the best."

"Hehe~"

Illya beamed, then ran off to find her parents.

"Good work, Shirou."

Shinji snapped his fingers, and the ropes binding Shirou immediately loosened.

Shirou quickly stood up from the chair, patting his chest in lingering fear. "That was terrifying. I really thought Illya was going to kill someone just now."

"I didn't think her acting skills would be that good... Is my little sister really some kind of prodigy?"

His voice was full of envy.

As the male lead, it had taken him ages to get into the right state of mind, while his little sister had managed to perform so well in no time at all.

"Well, I had Illya use Suggestion Magic while she was acting, so you'd enter a semi-hypnotic state and get into character more easily." Master Shinji spread his hands. "It seems to have worked. Your acting has improved a lot."

Shirou's mouth twitched violently.

"...I really appreciate it, Shinji!"

People get paid to act. You make acting life-threatening.

Although Shinji had been a little out of line to film Shirou using Suggestion Magic without telling him, the results had been excellent.

Even though Shirou had gotten two of his lines wrong, Shinji decided to use the scene in the final cut.

After that, Shinji adjusted the camera angle and finished filming the scene of Illya threatening Shirou from a low angle.

They used a low angle to emphasize Illya's absolute control over the scene and make the audience feel oppressed by the shot.

Different camera angles really did give the audience different impressions. It was one of the lessons Shinji's teachers had emphasized when he studied in Hollywood.

The film industry in this world wasn't very commercialized, but filmmaking techniques had already advanced rapidly. Many methods that wouldn't become popular until after 2010 were already in vogue at this point.

Fortunately, that meant Shinji's theoretical knowledge of cinematography was already very solid. He could simulate in his mind how to shoot many classic scenes.

In theory, that was.

Making a movie was absolutely no simple task. In practice, it took tremendous patience and attention to detail.

With the scene of Illya threatening Shirou finished, the dialogue scenes at Eizenbern Castle were done. All that remained were the major action scenes.

Dialogue determined a movie's ceiling; action determined its floor.

That didn't apply to every movie, but it was certainly true of the vast majority of commercial special-effects films.

For those movies, no matter how profound the story was, it couldn't stir ordinary people's enthusiasm for watching. What drew countless viewers, delighted to head to the theater and watch on the big screen, were the action and special effects that many film artists sneered at.

Wonder Woman 1984 had tried to use heartwarming inspirational messages to awaken the love within people, but most viewers weren't moved. Godzilla vs. Kong, on the other hand, had no depth at all, yet it had been a blast to watch and won over countless audiences.

The most important thing in a commercial special-effects movie was that the audience had fun. Only when they were having fun would they take an interest in the film.

Especially with the FSN movie Shinji was making now, action scenes were its foundation and backbone. The spectacular battles between Heroic Spirits were the Fate Series movies' biggest selling point, and the part Shinji had designed most carefully. He wasn't going to just fix the camera in place and let two Heroic Spirits fight back and forth in the frame.

That kind of meaningless, rhythmless fighting was even less exciting than a well-edited brawl between idiots.

The thing was, Heroic Spirits didn't fight with stage combat techniques. They were good fighters, but that didn't necessarily mean they could make a fight look good.

So while filming, Shinji would try to control every element in the frame to make sure the action was entertaining to watch.

Even to make editing easier, Shinji used both open and closed compositions—having the Heroic Spirits perform exactly the same actions twice, once at an outdoor location and once on a soundstage.

Each action scene required several rehearsals and test shoots as Shinji searched for the best approach and the best results.

Since the Heroic Spirits were all skilled martial artists, they could perfectly perform the movements Shinji wanted. So Shinji's action shots would show as much of them as possible, displaying them at their coolest instead of relying on loads of close-ups to hide the actors' lack of martial arts skill.

One of Shinji's favorite shots was to circle Uncle Hai and Artoria clockwise as they fought, with Uncle Hai as the center point.

In plain language, it was a 360-degree rotating shot with Uncle Hai at the center.

This circling technique had been invented for filmmaking, originally to make editing easier.

That was why many ambitious directors didn't like using this kind of shot. They thought circling was too rigid and didn't showcase their personal style.

Master Shinji completely disagreed. In his previous life, even in the 2020s, when he'd crossed over, the technique was still widely used.

Commercial movie directors especially loved using 360-degree rotating shots to show relationships and emotions between characters, as well as the full scope of action scenes.

That alone was enough to prove the value of circling shots.

As for so-called artistry...

Sorry, Master Shinji was a thoroughgoing commercial director.

"What, you mean an Academy Award?"

What was that? Could you eat it?

In this world, art films were thriving, and the Academy Awards didn't hold a candle to the three major European film festivals. The United States was just the world's biggest box-office market, while other countries were places to milk for money.

Actually, if he could, Master Shinji's restless director's heart wanted to try some flashy techniques, learning from the great masters how to make a simple circling shot more complex.

But Master Shinji knew his limits. He was still an elementary-school student in the world of directing. The sensible thing was to use simple, solid techniques to finish shooting this Fate movie.

He could try those techniques after he'd mastered the basics.

If he botched this film, there'd be no future for Master Shinji.

"Haah!!"

On set, the nimble Artoria darted around Uncle Hai, trading blows, while the mighty Uncle Hai stood firm as a mountain, like an immovable guardian deity.

"Good, cut!"

After Artoria and Shirou pierced Uncle Hai's body together, Shinji called through the megaphone to stop filming.

"Good work, Shirou. We've more or less got this part."

Shinji casually tossed Shirou a towel so he could wipe the dirty makeup from his face and body.

But Shinji hadn't thrown it hard enough. Shirou had to lunge forward a few steps to catch it.

"Hey, at least try to throw it accurately!"

Shirou complained to Shinji.

"You're lucky I gave you one. Here, this one's yours. Wipe off your sweat."

Shinji personally handed another towel to Artoria.

"Thank you, Master."

Artoria nodded politely, then gently wiped herself down with the towel. Her prim, proper manner had a charm all its own.