I'm Not A Master, I'm A Director (Patreon)

Chapter 90: First Scene of UBW Production

In Fuyuki City, Homurahara High School, numerous students were walking back and forth in the corridors, chatting and laughing with each other.

Among them, a black-haired girl with twin tails wearing a red coat walked through the crowd, smiling and greeting others.

The students in the corridor responded one after another, displaying a harmonious and joyful campus atmosphere.

However, several cameras set up around the perimeter indicated that this was just a scene.

Currently, both adaptations of Fate/stay night have begun production in Fuyuki City. Since the scenes for the actors were the same, and because of the nature of filming television series, Shinji decided to adopt a straightforward method of shooting simultaneously.

Although they were filming simultaneously, there would still be differences between the TV broadcast of UBW and HF after production.

UBW would adopt a very traditional television broadcast mode, directly airing on major TV stations.

On the other hand, the release of HF would be relatively more complex. After all, as the darkest and most profound route among the three, Shinji wasn't planning to use an all-ages distribution model.

In North America, Shinji would entrust HBO, a premium television network, with broadcasting. Since this network often airs mature and violent adult series, it was a suitable match.

As for other regions, Shinji would use OV or online streaming to bypass relatively strict television censorship.

Although this would lead to a decrease in revenue for the HF route, this script was just a fan-oriented work meant to fill the product line, so a little less wouldn't matter.

Compared to HF, Shinji obviously placed more emphasis on the production of UBW.

For the first scene after production began, Shinji arranged for the crew to rent the teaching building of Homurahara Academy High School for filming.

The content of the filming was also very familiar to everyone, as almost every version of Fate/stay night includes the storyline of Rin Tohsaka's prologue at school.

Of course, in this world, this part of the story would be visualized for the first time.

Previously, due to time constraints, the movie version of FSN didn't film the entire content, only a few segments.

The advantage of making a television series lay precisely here. Because of the more relaxed duration, more scenes could be filmed.

And this was what Shinji hoped for.

Through the first two films, Shinji realized the shortcomings in his film production, especially in handling dialogue scenes, which were somewhat hasty.

This was also a common problem for directors like Shinji, such as Michael Bay, Roland Emmerich, and Hirokazu Sambon from his previous life.

But having a problem didn't mean it should be ignored. While Shinji wasn't particularly interested in winning awards, he couldn't keep using subpar dialogue scenes to diminish the audience's viewing experience, right?

This time, choosing to film a television series, Shinji also had reasons to try out and confirm some new techniques.

The production cost of a television series was lower than that of a film, making it a white rat for trial and error.

Although this was the first scene of UBW, most of the crew were Shinji's old hands, with some even participating in the filming of the FSN movie version.

So whether it was camera angles, actor positioning, or prop arrangements, the crew members knew what to do.

Even if there were some problems, they could be easily resolved with a few words.

At this moment, Shinji himself sat on a small stool at the stairway, watching the monitor showing the approachable yet slightly tsundere demeanor of Rin Tohsaka, and nodded gently.

"Cut!"

Shinji shouted to all the actors in front of the cameras.

"Take a break, and I hope you can keep it up."

After saying this, Shinji also gave a thumbs-up to Rin.

"Rin, you did very well, truly embodying the essence of Rin Tohsaka."

Although this was a compliment, it didn't sound quite right in the ears of the others.

As for Rin herself, she didn't give Shinji any face: "Oh, come on! Are you mocking me for always keeping people at arm's length?"

Shinji shook his head. "No, I meant you portrayed the symptoms of someone with low blood pressure because they kept skipping breakfast very well."

"Tsk, you're definitely mocking me, aren't you?"

Rin hadn't finished complaining when someone on the set spoke up.

"Skipping breakfast? Rin, what's going on?"

"Dad..."

Rin's mouth twitched a bit, and she quickly replied with a forced smile, "Who said anything about skipping breakfast? Shinji's just teasing me."

While dealing with her subordinate Shinji, Rin also gave him a fierce glare, indicating him to keep quiet.

"Come here, come here."

Rin grabbed Shinji's shoulder and dragged him into a corner, then leaned against the wall and pressed him against it.

"Rin, although we've known each other since childhood, you can't just do this, right?" Shinji wobbled his head. "You know, even if I act recklessly sometimes, I'm not that kind of person in public."

Rin directly took out a gemstone from her pocket and pressed it against Shinji's mouth. "Shinji Matou, do you want me to feed you this gemstone myself? Believe me, this thing will last you for several lifetimes."

"It's more like it'll take several lifetimes for me to digest it."

Shinji saw through Rin's scheme at a glance.

"Stop blabbering!" Rin grabbed Shinji's collar. "Why is my dad here?!!!"

Shinji didn't directly answer. He glanced at the group of relatives gathered outside the set.

"It's not just your dad here, is it?"

Yes, indeed, aside from Tokiomi Tohsaka, there were Kiritsugu, Kariya, Kirei, Zouken and all the other relatives, they all showed up.

Not only that, but these "parents" also each brought handheld video cameras, behaving like parents at a primary school sports event.

"So! Why are they even here?!" Rin asked through gritted teeth. "Isn't this just adding more pressure on us for the filming?"

Anyone who has been a student knows that the pressure during parents' open class is definitely greater than usual.

Shinji shrugged helplessly, "There's nothing we can do. The elders suffered a lot during Fate/Zero filming. Now it's your turn, of course, they want to get back at you."

"But—"

"Don't pretend you didn't laugh back then."

Shinji teased Miss Rin.

During the filming of Fate/Zero, several elders were quite embarrassed, making mistakes in front of the younger generation. After all, except for Kariya, none of them were professional actors, so it was normal to have bloopers like laughing on set or forgetting lines.

At that time, Rin, Shirou, and the others would come to the set whenever they had free time.

They said they came to help, but in reality, they were there to watch the elders' antics. Rin had laughed so hard several times she almost passed out.

Now the tables had turned, and the younger generation was making a movie, it was time for the elders to watch the younger ones' antics.

Since they were filming a scene set in the morning at the school, there naturally would be a scene where Rin and Shinji meet. But Shinji, citing the need to oversee the overall production on the first day of filming, passed on his own scene, saying it would be filmed separately later. With the use of editing techniques, the final product wouldn't show that it was filmed separately.

If it weren't for the elders present, Rin would've loved nothing more than to make intimate contact between her black stockings and the area between Shinji's legs—at a speed of 120 km/h, of course.

Rin always felt that letting this guy, who loved watching others make mistakes and never suffered any consequences himself, go with the flow would contribute to the harmonious development of society.

"Alright, hurry up and touch up your makeup," Shinji grinned with narrowed eyes, "the next scene is about to start."

"Thank you so much, Director," Rin said with a crazy twitch of her eyebrows, accompanied by a sinister smile.

"You're welcome."

Shinji's smirk deepened.

"Shinji..."

The main heroine of UBW witnessed his shamelessness once again.

"Archer, adjust Unit One to the corridor entrance!"

Taking advantage of Rin's distraction, Shinji quickly disengaged from the wall and took command of the camera crew.

"Unit Two, start moving for the shot, pay attention to capturing Rin's facial expressions."

The crew quickly adjusted their positions, Rin's touch-up makeup was completed swiftly, and they were ready for the next scene.

Satisfied, Shinji nodded and returned to his director's position to signal the start of filming.

"UBW, Act 1, Scene 4," the script supervisor stood in front of the main camera with the clapboard, "Action!"

This scene wasn't difficult; it depicted Rin encountering Sakura, Shinji, Shirou, and Issei, her classmates, in the morning at school.

It was a fairly standard scene, using the characters' dialogue to showcase their personalities and relationships.

Although it was a very old trope, it was still very effective, allowing the audience to easily be introduced to the characters without it feeling forced.

Shirou was the first actor ready for filming, having spent a lot of time lately discussing character performances with Shinji. He had a good grasp on his character, much better than the performance of the inexperienced actor, Issei Ryuudou.

"Cut!"

When the camera focused on Issei's close-up, Shinji called for a halt.

"Issei, the difference in your reactions to Rin and Shirou isn't significant enough! Don't worry about making your expressions too natural; you can exaggerate them a bit more. The audience will understand that you're doing it intentionally for Rin."

"Sorry, Shinji," Issei gently rubbed his cheeks to relax them a bit more, "I'll try again."

"Adjust your mindset quickly."

Regardless of which part of Fate/stay night it was, it was still fundamentally a commercial film and television production. Shinji certainly wouldn't expect every actor to perform like an Oscar winner.

It was just that Shinji always seemed to prefer working with amateur actors, which made him feel more tired. If they were professional actors, the pressure on Shinji's productions wouldn't be as great.

In fact, Issei's role wasn't difficult. As long as he remained steadfast in his disdain for Rin while sharing some "meaningful looks" with Shirou, the character's image would be established.

"Shinji."

Shirou, who shuddered, said with a grimace, "I feel like you're up to no good."

"What are you talking about Shirou? That's just your imagination."

Today, Shinji's thick skin remained as usual.