onigiri
patreon
Chapter 306 Positive, Negative and Flat Curves
🕑 Added 2025-04-21 15:34:38 +0000 UTC"Oh, oh."
Gen Urobuchi, who was accused by Nanaya, did not feel embarrassed at all. Instead, he scratched his head and smiled foolishly.
After getting to know Nanaya over the past few days, Old Gen no longer has the fear of Nanaya that he had at the beginning.
Anyway, this director is a typical person with a sharp tongue but a soft heart, so just accept it with an open mind.
As for whether he will refuse to change, that depends on his mood.
"In short, for the character of Artoria, we must highlight her sunny and positive image."
Nanaya could more or less guess what this guy Urobuchi was thinking, but after several revisions, the current plot of Saber was much better than the original version in Nanaya's memory.
The image of Artoria in the original FZ is just as described by the King of Conquerors - a little girl who loves fantasy.
Especially Artoria's pursuit of the Holy Grail was too passionate.
You have to know that in the fate line and ubw line in FSN, Saber was very decisive in giving up the Holy Grail.
The only thing that Nanaya found acceptable was that the plot process related to Saber did not need to be modified.
What needs to be modified is the performance of the saber in these plots. For example, the plot in the Banquet of Three Kings where it was originally beaten by Mr. Golden and the King of Conquerors must be modified.
The confrontation between the three kingly ways must have its own characteristics in Nanaya's design, and the audience must not feel that one of them is too strong and suppresses the other two.
Even if she was really suppressed, the person suppressed couldn't be Artoria.
Of course, it’s not just Artoria’s story that needs to be modified, other characters also need to be modified accordingly.
The biggest difference in story structure between FZ and FSN is that FSN is a traditional adventure story, and the main plot basically focuses on the protagonist group.
Although FZ has a protagonist named Kiritsugu Emiya, it is closer to a group drama.
In addition to the protagonist Kiritsugu, other characters also use a lot of words to describe their stories in the story.
This is also why the plot density of FZ is higher than that of each individual line of FSN.
Although it increases the difficulty of making FZ, it also gives FZ a charm different from FSN.
However, even if it is an ensemble drama, it is impossible to focus on every character.
Whether it is Nanaya or Gen Urobuchi, they are both professional storytellers and certainly understand the trade-offs in the plot.
Doing all of this is a stupid thing only a rookie would do.
The "Avengers" series can be said to be the pinnacle of ensemble dramas in commercial films.
Although the movie has tried its best to take care of every character, there is still some bias.
The most obvious thing is that among the four most popular Iron Man movies, he is always the one with the most screen time.
Others, even Captain America and Thor, who are also members of the Big Three, have played the role of tools in the movies.
Nanaya doesn't think he can do better than Marvel, so the movie version of FZ's characters will definitely need to make some trade-offs in the plot.
Including the masters, servants, and other characters that appear in FZ, there are almost more than 20 characters.
Nanaya’s selection criteria are also very simple. The characters with changing character curves are the core of the movie, and the others are just tools.
This is the simplest script arrangement and the one most acceptable to the audience.
Of course, in this way, not only the extras, but all the servants and most of the masters are classified as tools.
There are only three characters left: Emiya Kiritsugu, Kotomine Kirei, and Waver Velvet.
The role curve theory was proposed by Bogart's and Landau in "Role Curve", which has not been published yet.
So when Nanaya was explaining to Urobuchi, he also needed to teach him the concept of character curve first.
Fortunately, although the theoretical knowledge of character curves has not been summarized, the screenwriting industry already has similar related concepts, so Urobuchi understood it very quickly.
After listening to Nanaya's explanation, Gen Urobuchi nodded in sudden enlightenment: "As expected of a great director who can make hundreds of millions of dollars at the box office. The originally vague concept immediately became clear to me."
"It's okay. I also learned more from reading Hollywood scripts."
Nanaya had no intention of taking credit for such theoretical stuff.
After all, the academic circle is too small, and Nanaya can't be proud of his achievements, as he will easily be exposed by others.
Although Nanaya is very skilled in applying this theory, it is better not to ask him to repeat the entire theory.
Nanaya sat back in his seat. With a dry mouth, he picked up the teacup and took two big sips of the cold green tea to moisten his throat.
Gen Urobuchi picked up a marker and wrote two strokes on the whiteboard: "So according to Kiryu-san, Waver Velvet is the most traditional positive character arc, right?"
Waver is a very typical protagonist of an adventure story, who transforms from a reckless and overconfident kid into a reliable man in the Holy Grail War.
"Yes, and Kotomine Kirei is a negative character arc." Nanaya nodded, "From a good son and a good disciple, he eventually degenerates into a character who kills his own teacher and becomes completely evil."
Unlike the protagonists in normal stories who become [better people] in the end, characters like Kotomine Kirei are usually perfect people at the beginning of the story.
In technical terms, it is someone who has learned or understood [the facts].
Then, such a character takes a completely different path from the protagonist as the story progresses.
As the protagonists move upward, they learn the truth from the [lie].
Characters like Mapo, on the other hand, will go downhill as the story progresses. They become imperfect because they believe [lies] in [facts].
More importantly, such characters often become the protagonist's ultimate antagonist.
The most typical examples are Sasuke and Naruto in Naruto (before Shippuden).
In the movies, the more classic ones are Thor and Loki in "Thor 1" and Harvey Dent, the two-faced man in "The Dark Knight".
Such characters often have a unique charm of their own, and as long as their plots are convincing, they will become extremely popular.
"So, Old Urobuchi, you must be careful when handling Kotomine Kirei's story. He might become a popular character in the FZ story."
"Hmm... I think I understand."
Gen Urobuchi nodded thoughtfully, "Then what about the character of Emiya Kiritsugu? I don't see any character arc for him..."
Apart from the last short plot, Gen Urobuchi found that Kiritsugu Emiya's character had almost no ups and downs, and no twists and turns.
In fact, even at the end of the story, Kiritsugu Eimiya did not have any final changes.
After learning that the Holy Grail could not fulfill his wish, Kiritsugu Emiya decided to destroy the Holy Grail.
But this action did not change the essence of the character, Kiritsugu only changed his view of the Holy Grail.
This still righteous man made a decision that was consistent with his character.
Nanaya said calmly: "Urobuchi, this kind of character has a flat character curve. They are the same from the beginning to the end of the story."
"Will anyone watch a character like this?" Old Gen asked curiously, "Kiryu-san, didn't you say that only characters with strong and convincing plot changes can be remembered by the audience?"
"Yes, so most commercial films will not adopt this kind of character arc model, because it is difficult for a character to stand out. If it is not used well, the movie and the character will become mediocre."
Nanaya nodded: "But there are corresponding ways to deal with it. We need to change the environment around the character."
Looking at the densely written notes by the two people, Nanaya paused for a second and then explained seriously.
“There are usually two common approaches to dealing with such characters in movies and stories.
"One is to use the value of the character to change the people or things around him, such as "Forrest Gump" and "The Shawshank Redemption".
“It would be more appropriate to say that the protagonist changes the people around him through his own abilities, or saves the people around him.”
Kyon understood immediately: "Just like the male protagonist in your Goblin Slayer, Kiryu-san?"
"Yes."
Old Gen asked curiously: "What about the other one?"
“That is to throw the protagonist into an environment full of [lies], or to take away everything the protagonist is familiar with bit by bit.”
Nanaya smiled and said, "Since he was a child, Kiritsugu has been losing people around him. His childhood sweetheart, his father, the teacher he regarded as his mother, and he lost his beloved wife and his closest assistant in the Holy Grail War."
At this point Nanaya's expression became a little strange, as if he was enduring something.
"Under such circumstances, Kiritsugu can only pursue the Holy Grail, because it is not only his last hope, but also the meaning of his participation in the war."
“But this is the biggest lie in the whole story. The Holy Grail was never a beautiful thing.
"On the contrary, in a sense, the Holy Grail is Kiritsugu's greatest enemy.
"What Kiritsugu pursued, what he fought for, what he sacrificed everything for, was just a huge lie. This is the most intense conflict in the whole movie."
"From having everything to having nothing? Such a story..."
Old Gen felt something vaguely, and he suddenly felt like a person who was lost in the darkness, and Nanaya made him see the dawn of hope out of the darkness.
“It’s really great!!”
Gen Urobuchi grabbed the marker in his hand tightly and shouted out in an excited voice.
"As expected of you, Kiryu-san. Your understanding and summary really enlightened me."
Gen Urobuchi excitedly said to Nanaya: "Tell us more, Kiryu-san. About the character curve setting."
[It looks like we're going to be working very late tonight again. ]
At this time, Gen Urobuchi's face was flushed and he looked full of energy.
Nanaya nodded with a wry smile: "I understand."
Seeing that Gen Urobuchi was in such good condition, Nanaya knew that he would definitely not be able to leave in the short term.
[I tried my best to make the warrior of love more perfect. ]
Nanaya glanced at the street scene outside the window which had already turned dark. While Old Gen was writing something, he sent an email to the boss's wife with whom he lived.
[I won't be back for dinner tonight, you can take care of it yourself.]
After sending the email, Nanaya slapped his forehead.
"Fuck, why am I telling her this?"
