I'm Not A Master, I'm A Director
Chapter 461: Disney Refuses to Fade Into Silence
Compared to Jeanne, who felt that Shinji treated people differently, Rin Tohsaka—having spent far longer by his side—understood her childhood friend much better.
This capitalist Master treated everyone exactly the same:
Sustainable exploitation to the very last drop.
He might have a sweet tongue and love flirting with girls, but the moment he needed someone to work, he would show absolutely no mercy.
Back when Rin had still been an innocent and naïve young girl, this horrible man had sold her out countless times.
On several occasions, she had even happily helped him count the money afterward.
"Shinji, you were lying again just now, weren't you?"
After the dejected Jeanne obediently returned to filming, Rin turned to Shinji and asked.
"Rin, you're starting to know me better and better."
Shinji shrugged.
Fortunately, Rin hadn't exposed his lie in front of Jeanne. Was that her way of showing consideration for an old friend?
Thank goodness his grandfather didn't listen to Tokiomi's nonsense back then. Marrying this woman would be a nightmare. You can't even trick her.
Shinji silently breathed a sigh of relief.
"That's because I've known you forever!"
Rin, completely unaware of the scandalous thoughts running through his head, wore a smug expression.
"Of course I know how your mind works."
Ever since a certain shameless Lord El-Melloi II had approached her, he had constantly talked about Shinji's exploits at the Clock Tower, as though she didn't know the blue-haired guy at all.
Now that Shinji had admitted it, Rin's eyebrows rose triumphantly.
"I knew it. You're the easiest person in the world to figure out."
"What did you say?"
"Nothing."
A faint blush appeared on Rin's face as she quickly changed the subject.
"I was just saying that it's not because you dislike Martha, and it's not because you're trying to save money or magical energy. You simply can't do it, right?"
"...That's true," Shinji nodded.
Then, lowering his voice, he explained:
"When I tried modifying Martha's Spirit Origin, I discovered that she couldn't be Alterized or Berserk-ified. Something seems to prevent it."
"Don't tell me it's because saints can't be corrupted. Jeanne worked just fine."
That immediately piqued Rin's curiosity.
She had always been interested in Servant-summoning magecraft.
"That's not it."
Shinji shook his head.
"When I modified Martha's Spirit Origin, I found that she couldn't become a Berserker or an Alter at all. Instead, she could become a chef."
"A chef? The Holy Grail System has a Cook class now?"
"Not exactly."
Shinji explained:
"The class is still Caster, but her Spirit Origin has absurd compatibility with cooking. It looks like her Caster's Item Construction skill got redefined into Food Construction."
He shrugged.
"Who knows what those two upstairs were thinking. Maybe they figured food cooked by a saint would taste better."
It was probably an issue of compatibility between the Heroic Spirit and her class.
Not only had Shinji failed to create an Alter version of Martha, but after some secret experimentation, he discovered he couldn't turn Arturia into a Caster either.
Looks like Caster Arturia and the original Arturia really aren't the same person... or maybe Those Two simply won't allow me to mess with things that way.
Shinji shook his head helplessly before teasing Rin.
"By the way, I'm surprised you didn't say 'Cooker.'"
Smack!
Rin immediately slapped him.
"I studied abroad in England, thank you very much! My English isn't that terrible!"
Grabbing Shinji by the collar, Rin was preparing to help his fish-like memory evolve slightly when he suddenly asked:
"Speaking of which, Rin. Have you confirmed the information Lissy sent earlier?"
"More or less," Rin nodded irritably.
"The director you wanted me to investigate really was recruited by Disney."
Then she paused.
"Wait a second—you deliberately changed the subject!"
"And why exactly did you have me confirm it through Cloris? Am I your personal messenger pigeon or something?"
Perhaps because she had grown up alongside Shinji as his childhood friend, Rin noticed that almost every girl interested in him seemed to gather around her.
Some, like Olga Marie, wanted to compete with her.
Others, like Cloris, wanted to use her as a middleman—or even a matchmaker.
In short, all these girls were driving Miss Tohsaka crazy.
Not just a little annoyed.
Very, very annoyed.
"Seriously, what kind of sins did I commit in my previous life to end up becoming your childhood friend?"
Rin's complaint went completely ignored.
Shinji had already pulled out his notebook and started writing things down.
It turned out that, in order to better compete against Shinji Matou, Disney had recruited a group of up-and-coming directors specifically to produce commercial blockbusters capable of challenging both Time Group and Shinji.
Among the names on that list, Shinji spotted two that felt very familiar.
That was why he had asked Rin to contact Cloris and verify the information.
The two names were Michael Bay and Zack Snyder
Before Shinji's transmigration, both had been highly famous blockbuster directors.
If Disney was truly beginning to value commercial filmmakers and actively cultivate them, then Shinji genuinely needed to pay attention.
Actually, it wasn't strange at all that Disney would discover Michael Bay and Zack Snyder at the same time.
Both of them had started out directing commercials before moving into feature films.
In a sense, they had simply switched industries.
And directors from the advertising world were naturally more receptive to Shinji's philosophy of commercial filmmaking than traditional art-focused directors.
From Disney's perspective, this strategy was probably called using magic to defeat magic.
That said, of the two directors, Shinji only truly regarded Michael Bay as a serious concern.
Compared to Bay, Zack Snyder's commercial instincts were weaker.
Although Snyder was often more famous online in certain circles, Shinji felt that his ability to make profitable blockbusters was still a tier below Bay's.
One indication of this was that Snyder's films had only rarely crossed the billion-dollar mark worldwide.
To be fair, Snyder excelled at visual composition and color design.
Even Shinji had learned things from him—from the films he'd watched before transmigrating.
However, Snyder suffered from significant weaknesses in pacing and story structure.
Those flaws meant that his films tended to satisfy a relatively small group of devoted fans, while the majority of viewers simply found them average.
There was also Snyder's tendency to inject his own interpretations into adaptations, causing them to drift away from their source material.
Shinji wasn't even talking about the much-discussed DC Extended Universe.
Even Watchmen, which many Snyder fans regarded as a masterpiece, had substantial adaptation issues.
Many people claimed that the film's 215-minute Ultimate Cut was a panel-for-panel recreation of the original comic and the most faithful comic adaptation ever made.
But in Shinji's view, Snyder had only replicated the appearance of the comic, while the core themes had diverged.
The most obvious example was one of the protagonists, Rorschach.
In the original comic, Rorschach was an obsessive extremist in pursuit of truth—a morally ambiguous figure who was neither wholly good nor wholly evil.
In Snyder's film, however, he was portrayed much more as a straightforward heroic figure exposing a conspiracy.
Examples of this kind of thematic deviation appeared throughout the movie.
Whether Snyder's changes were good or bad, Shinji didn't care to judge.
But a film that faithfully reproduces the visuals while altering the underlying themes can hardly be called the most faithful adaptation.
Of course, Michael Bay wasn't exactly innocent when it came to adaptations either.
Among many Transformers fans, Bay was infamous as a complete destroyer of source material.
The difference, however, was that Michael Bay understood how to make movies that earned more money.
When forced to choose between personal artistic expression and box-office revenue, Bay would choose money without hesitation.
Snyder, on the other hand, consistently chose personal expression.
That was why, compared to Zack Snyder, Shinji regarded Michael Bay as the truly dangerous opponent.
If one really wanted to trace influences, Shinji's own philosophy of filmmaking—
"Art is explosion."
—had largely been taught by Michael Bay.
If he ever met the man in person, Shinji felt he might even have to call him "Sensei."
Of course, in this parallel world, the nickname "Bayhem" wasn't famous across the globe.
In fact, hardly anyone in North America had even heard of it.
At the moment, the future master of cinematic explosions—the man Shinji considered half of his mentor in commercial filmmaking, Michael Bay—was still nothing more than an unproven rookie director.
Even if that rookie happened to be over forty years old.
Compared to Shinji, who could make an entire production revolve around him, it was questionable how much authority Michael Bay even possessed on a film set.
Yet what seemed like a disadvantage might actually be a blessing in disguise.
After all, Michael Bay's dramatic storytelling was notoriously weak.
Having someone else keep the plot under control could actually allow him to unleash one thousand percent of his combat power.
That was why, the moment Shinji learned that Disney intended to have Michael Bay direct a film, he immediately began paying attention to any related news.
Disney certainly hadn't hired Michael Bay just to sit around collecting a paycheck.
Shinji was convinced that Bay's movie would eventually clash with one of his own.
The only surprise was that Disney was even more impatient than he had expected.
Originally, Shinji assumed Disney would let Michael Bay direct a few smaller projects first, allowing him to gain experience before elevating him into their flagship director.
Instead, Disney threw him straight into battle.
His very first film was set to compete directly against Hundred Years' War of Evil Dragons.
Both movies were scheduled for the lucrative Christmas season in mid-to-late December.
Their release dates would be less than a week apart.
Or rather, there was a very real possibility that Michael Bay's film and Shinji's Hundred Years' War of Evil Dragons would open on the exact same day.
<+>
<+>
<+>
<+>
<+>
<+>
<+>
Tn: I updated the story once every 2 days, but if you want to see more chapter of this story ahead of time, please go to my Patreon.
Latest Chapter: Chapter 476: Shirou: I'll Take Both[1]!
Link: https://www.patreon.com/Thatsnakegirl/posts/im-not-master-im-165055398?collection=31097[2]
[1] https://www.patreon.com/Thatsnakegirl/posts/im-not-master-im-165055398?collection=31097
[2] https://www.patreon.com/Thatsnakegirl/posts/im-not-master-im-165055398?collection=31097