Chapter 324: EMIYA — Why Can't I Ever Keep My Mouth Shut?
Back when Shinji first started filming, using magecraft directly on set was the rare exception.
With so many crew members around, the sight of a director stretching out a hand and muttering incantations would've tipped off even the densest observer.
But nowadays? Thanks to his new spell-chanting system, Shinji no longer needed to mouth elaborate verses. Just scribble a keyword into his grimoire-laptop and—bam—magecraft activated. Efficiency more than doubled.
Naturally, that convenience turned into a habit.
As long as it wasn't too outrageous, Shinji leaned on magecraft constantly—using it until it broke. Why bother with endless post-production tweaks when you could fix the shot during filming? With the magic in place, all that was left afterward was basic cutting and dubbing. Easy work.
And as for the risk of being exposed? Shinji wasn't worried in the least.
All he had to do was toss out some half-plausible explanation—"It's advanced technology, don't worry about it"—and the staff bought it every time.
After all, normal people weren't wired to accept something like magecraft.
Most of the crew were adults with solid worldviews. Whatever strange thing they saw, they'd filter it through the lens of "science." As long as Shinji didn't go overboard, they would default to tech over mystic.
That, and Shinji's trademark "low profile" style of directing kept suspicions to a minimum.
◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆
After wrapping a scene, the team took a thirty-minute break.
Shiki needed it. The bandages on her head had been wrapped for so long she had to unwind them and stretch her legs. During the downtime, she and Touko headed off to the makeup room, leaving Shinji to do his rounds.
He called over Shirou—the ever-faithful "utility man"—and together they checked each department's progress.
By this point, most of the scenes in Mifune City had been completed. What remained were smaller sequences: Shiki's mother and brother visiting her bedside, Mikiya caring for her while she was comatose, Touko beginning her training… minor stuff.
Half a month had gone into location shooting there. Finally, before the city slipped fully into winter, Shinji led the crew back to Fuyuki.
The cold had been brutal—Mifune was far too small and far too freezing for long-term filming. Everyone, Shinji included, silently vowed that the next The Garden of Sinner installment wouldn't be filmed in Mifune during either the fall or winter.
Back in Fuyuki, Shinji granted the crew four days off. He himself rested only two.
Then he plunged straight into the editing room to tackle the Fate/Apocrypha post-production.
While he'd been away, the editors had already assembled a rough cut—an almost eight-hour behemoth. Shinji's task was to trim it down into a "leaner" four-to-five-hour version.
From there, it would move on to dubbing, visual effects, and gradual fine-tuning.
Film editing was painstaking work, and even for an old hand like Shinji, it demanded an immense amount of focus.
Meanwhile, in a special effects stage set aside in Fuyuki, Shirou, Archer, and Touko sat waiting for preparations.
The day's task: explosion scenes.
Yes, Shiki fought with a dagger, but the film still needed fireballs, detonations, and chaos. Because the truth was plain—sword fights alone didn't sell tickets. Explosions did.
Experience has proven it time and time again. No matter how beautifully choreographed the swordplay, nothing got the audience's blood pumping quite like a massive blast. Even Japanese chanbara period dramas—renowned for their sword duels—would slip in an explosion or two whenever possible, under the banner of "art."
Of course, in a normal action film, actors would never be tossed directly into a live explosion. At most, the director would rely on camera tricks and forced perspective.
But Shinji? A "mystic cinema" director?
Naturally, his philosophy was different.
For him, the best explosion scene was the one where you shoved your actors directly into the flames.
All in the name of the perfect shot.
Of course, it wasn't like they were tossing humans into live blasts. These were Servants. Even if they got blown to bits inside the set, it wouldn't count as a real casualty.
Besides, the "explosions" themselves were mostly smoke and noise—flashy but harmless. With the durability of a Heroic Spirit's Saint Graph, the worst that might happen was a little soot on their costumes.
And if no one was going to get hurt, then Shinji had no reason to hold back.
"Archer, how's prep coming along?"
Stepping into the heavily modified soundstage, Shinji—taking a break from the editing room—called out to Archer as he walked toward the set's center.
As he walked, he added, "By the way, we only have one model of Touko built. If it gets damaged, shooting could be delayed by several days."
"Isn't that perfect then?" Archer quipped instantly. "Gives you more time to bury yourself in Apocrypha's post-production."
"Spare me. I've been staring at cuts and rushes for two days straight. If I have to stay in that editing suite any longer, I'll lose my mind."
"Haha, relax." Archer flashed his usual smug grin. "I guarantee I'll nail the effect in one shot."
"Don't get careless," Shinji warned. "You can judge the quality of a whole film by how it handles its explosions."
Indeed, explosions and flashy effects had been Shinji's signature draw ever since the Fate/Stay Night days.
Even now—though The Garden of Sinners' tone forced restraint and prevented him from drowning the film in fireballs—Shinji still poured effort into making every blast precise, beautiful, and unforgettable.
In the soundproof blast zone, several magus technicians were hard at work around the elaborate city street set.
Hundreds of artificial jewels, each filled with magecraft, had been planted throughout the scene, waiting for Shinji's signal to ignite.
This was the setup for Shiki's first meeting with Fujino, their midnight confrontation.
Like Shiki's fight with Touko, the original novel only had the encounter—but Shinji had padded it with an extended action sequence.
He had no choice. Outside of Paradox Spiral, the novels kept Shiki's combat short and decisive. Either she didn't fight, or she ended things in an instant.
But for the big screen? That simply wouldn't do. To keep audiences hooked, Shinji had to invent excuses for longer battles.
"Touko."
Standing before the mock city street, Shinji called her name.
She arrived in a few strides, cigarette case tucked into her pocket, expression bored but alert.
"Are the cameras in position?" Shinji asked.
"Flat-angle Cam One, and the peeping micro-cam inside the building are ready. Only the overhead Cam Two needs adjusting." Touko pointed upward toward the crane rig looming over the set.
"Once it's calibrated, we can roll."
Shinji turned, glancing back at Archer.
"You're going up there."
Archer gave a sharp, derisive laugh.
"So you really don't care if I fall off the rig, huh? In that case, why not send me inside the building? I'd bet the footage would beat that toy-sized camera of yours."
The use of micro-cams to capture explosions from inside buildings was a trick Shinji had picked up from Hollywood crews in his previous life.
By the 2020s, the method was so overused in that world it was practically cliché. But in this parallel reality, it was fresh, innovative cinematography.
And with Shinji's films spreading in popularity, other directors had inevitably started copying it. No one was stupid—when the audience cheered his results, the rest of the industry had to follow suit or risk being left behind.
After all, like bullet-time, this technique was rigidly procedural. Learn the principle, practice a few times, and you'd get it down.
Which meant Shinji now had to innovate again, or risk being overtaken.
So when Archer's sarcastic remark reached his ears, Shinji's first reaction wasn't to refute it. It was to seriously calculate the feasibility, and imagine how dynamic the resulting footage would look.
"…Archer."
After a pause, Shinji fixed his gaze on him.
"Can you reinforce a camera enough to withstand an explosion?"
Archer's smirk froze. "Wait—you can't be serious."
"Of course I'm serious. The only reason we use fixed micro-cams is because their small size keeps them safe from the blast." Shinji's tone was calm, almost lecturing. "But if you could carry a camera through the explosions, the footage would be far more dynamic."
Archer twitched, jaw tightening. "…Shinji. I was joking."
"And I'm not." Shinji's lips curved in that devilish little smile.
Archer: "..."
If time could rewind, Archer would've gladly delivered a Thomas spin-kick to his five-minutes-younger self.
'Damn my stupid mouth—!'
◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆
After a round of tests, they confirmed that, aside from the delicate IMAX rigs being too fussy for Archer to handle, the standard cameras posed no issue.
Half an hour later, the set was ready.
Shinji pulled back to a safe distance, megaphone in hand.
"Clear the set! Everyone out except the actors and Archer! Past the safety line, move it!"
When the dust settled, Archer found himself standing alone in the faux city street, hefting a camera like a beast of burden, flanked only by the two actresses.
He forced a smile, polite but awkward.
"Evening, ladies. Name's Archer—"
But before he could finish the greeting—
"Archer!" Shinji's voice thundered from the loudspeaker. "No flirting during work hours! And it's not like you're doing high jumps—don't expect the ladies to swoon!"
"—Shinji Matou, you—"
Too late. Shinji's voice cut over him again, this time rattling off the countdown.
"—Ten… nine… eight… seven—"
"Hey!!"
"Three… two… one. Detonate!"
The set erupted with a deafening roar. Fireballs surged skyward, swallowing all three figures in fire and thick black smoke.
Shinji, unmoved, turned to Shirou at his side.
"Keep going. Don't stop until every single jewel's spent."
"Shinji, the smoke—"
"We'll air it out after the blasts are done."
"…Got it."
With the same air of resignation only comrades-in-suffering share, Shirou returned to his controls, triggering the next round of detonations.
<+>
If you want to see more chapter of this story and don't mind paying $5 each month to read till the latest posted chapter, please go to my Patreon[1]
Current Chapter In Patreon: Chapter 363: Fate/Apocrypha Teaser Premieres[2]
Link to the latest chapter: https://www.patreon.com/posts/145877654?collection=31097[3]
https://www.patreon.com/collection/31097?view=expanded[4]
[1] https://www.patreon.com/collection/31097?view=expanded
[2] https://www.patreon.com/posts/145877654?collection=31097
[3] https://www.patreon.com/posts/145877654?collection=31097
[4] https://www.patreon.com/collection/31097?view=expanded