Chapter 4 We Desire a Form


Translated: Sei, MTL-sensei-tachi
Edited: Sei, Grammarly no Danna

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Part 8

    Thanks to my haste, I managed to reach home in eight minutes.

"Ah, Kyouya-kun, over here!"

    As soon as I entered the house, Shinoaki called me into her room.

"So, what's something good?"

    While walking up the stairs, we talked about what we were discussing.

"I was looking at the designation you gave me, and I had an idea."

    ......Looking at the designation?

    What the hell is that?

"All right, just give me the details."

"Yes"

    I went into Shinoaki's room and placed a chair next to her computer.

    What was shown on the monitor was my CG specification.

"The 10th of K01 is the last cut designation."

"That's right. I want to change this a little."

    Shinoaki said so and opened the scenario file.

"The scenario written by Tsurayuki, the scene here was really good...!"

    What showed was the confession scene of the main heroine.

    Although the situation was extremely simple, Tsurayuki was able to create a very nice scene full of emotion from my specification.

    The encounter between the blunt hero and the devoted heroine. This is the last part of the story, and it would have changed the whole impression of the story.

"It was a close-up of the heroine's face, and the differences were a smile, a serious face, a little crying, and a little angry."

"Yep. That's it!"

    Shinoaki happily opened another image file.

    There.

"Ah……"

    I gulped.

    The composition was large and horizontal, with a close-up of the main character's hand on the left and a middle shot of the girl on the right.

    The main character's hand in the foreground is a little blurred, and the girl in the background is in focus. It was a moving image composition that made good use of depth of field.

"The boy's lines are really good. That's why I wanted to add the expression of his hands when he was talking."

    The protagonist had a habit of unconsciously clenching his hands tightly when he was about to make a bold move or say something that would mark a turning point in his life.

    This habit was used as an element to make the common part of the story funny and the final confession scene a bit heartbreaking. This was an idea that Tsurayuki came up with, and I thought it turned out to be very effective.

    Shinoaki suggested that this could be expressed in CG as well.

"At first, I drew a close-up of the face, but it didn't feel right... So, when I was roughly drawing from a distance, I realized that it would be a shame to draw only one person. It's a scene that can't be completed unless the protagonist and heroine are together."

    Shinoaki looks straight at me.

"What do you think? I think it's great!"

"……"

    I fell silent.

    It was a very good composition. I thought it was worthy of a perfect score as a result of that scenario. It's because she read it properly that she came up with the idea, and how sincerely Shinoaki created it. It would not be an exaggeration to say that this was the ultimate piece of work that showed how much effort had been put into the project.

    If the situation had allowed, I would have immediately given the OK to the change and it would have proceeded without a problem. But.

    (To be honest, I think the change here and now would be... tough)

    Originally, this project was planned to be created by a small number of main staff and some outsiders. The decision was made after taking into account the budget and production time.

    As for the CG, I asked Yamashina-san to do the background graphics, which required his expertise, but for the standing pictures and event CG, I planned to leave everything up to Shinoaki, including the coloring.

    Unfortunately, the project fell apart in the middle. Due to the general delays, Shinoaki couldn't get around to coloring, and more than half of the CG work had to be done by outside artists. Naturally, this put pressure on the budget, which was to be settled later.

    In a project where the ultimate goal is to make money, the more you make, the less you get.

    (Shinoaki should know that too...)

    That's why I even offered to pay all the graphic artist's fees out of my share (of course it was rejected), and I think it was because of that debt that I agreed to the proposal to drastically change the composition.

    It was in this situation that I made this suggestion.

    I know it's the result of her professionalism. I know, but...

"...This change is"

    I was very confused. It was possible for me to make an exception just for this one piece, the final piece, in the production. It was not a bad story, and I am sure it will be a positive evaluation part.

    But this change is quite risky. I've already asked Yamashina-san to create the background for the event CG on a pretty tight schedule. Considering the time of master up*, it was impossible to add anything at this stage. 
(Note: game development deadline)

    Naturally, the coloring would also be ordered out. The graphic artist we had hired had told us that it would be difficult to guarantee the quality of the work. If we ordered this work out, there was a possibility that we might end up releasing the final product without being able to finish it.

    I was troubled for a moment. I was ――.

"I don't think we should change this."

    Yes, I said it.

"Why...? I think this one is definitely better for this content...!"

    Shinoaki looked confused.

    It was unusual for her to return the question with a strong tone.

"As I thought, the delivery date will... not in time?"

    Here, it would have been easy to say yes. But considering her pride as a creator, that straight talk seemed to have the opposite effect.

"That's not what I meant. I just want to show the expression that Shinoaki draws in this scene."

"Facial expression?"

"Yeah. That's why I was asking you so many facial expressions from the beginning."

    Open the file and check the diff part again.

"Where all the other CGs use only about 2 diffs, this one uses 4. I wanted to make sure that the richness of her expression would make a memorable impression at the end."

    I wasn't lying. But this was more like an excuse.

"Oh... I see"

"That's right. So, while this composition is certainly interesting, I think it's best to stay on schedule... What do you think?"

    I thought I was doing something sly.

    Give your opinion, but leave the final decision to the illustrator. This will give the impression that the decision was made by the person herself.

    I pulled out that sword here, thinking that I had learned a bad way of doing things.

"...Okay. Then I'll draw it with the original composition."

"I'm sorry, you came up with such an interesting composition."

"No, it's my fault for being slow in the first place."

    Shinoaki smiled and said that,

"I'm sorry to call you out when you're so busy. You can go back now"

"Yeah, I'll do that then."

    I confirmed the remaining work to be done, and based on that, I decided on the schedule for coloring.
Exactly one hour after I arrived at Shinoaki's room, I tried to go to Kiryuu-san's room again. I pulled my cell phone out of my pocket to check the time,

"Huh? There is an incoming call"

    It was from the Kawasegawa. I quickly called back,

"Hashiba? It's done as planned. I'm already on my way home."

    She reported the end of the work as if it was nothing special.

"I asked Kiryuu-san to write it out in the format you told me to. I'm not good at that kind of thing, so I don't know, but I think it's okay because it's exactly what Hashiba told me to do."

"Thank you, you've been a big help."

    If there are any concerns, I'm sure Kawasegawa will tell me right away.

    Since she said it was on schedule, I figured it must have gone off without a hitch.

"So, did you solve the problem?"

"Well... Yeah, somehow"

    It wasn't really a problem, but it was resolved, so I told her so.

"Yes... then I'm hanging up."

    Looking at the easily disconnected phone, I said to myself to confirm.

"I'll have to call Keiko-san. I'll be working on the script from today, and I'll need Tsurayuki to check it out."

    As if trying to clear my mind of what had just happened, I began to think of all the things I was going to do.

    There is still a lot left to do. I have to see it all through and complete this game.

    Let's make something good, let's give shape to our feelings.

    It's important to think that way. But to really give it shape, compromise is necessary.

    There is always a compromise somewhere in the production that is out there.

    If they don't, they will never be able to make anything that sells.

"It's the best thing for Tsurayuki."

    Especially this time, because we clearly need the money.

    Where do we draw the line and make it something we can show.

    It's my job to make those decisions.

    In order to do that, I am using my future experiences in the present.

"We've all been down that road at one point or another."

    They will learn that in the process of becoming professionals.

    Knowing the compromises ahead of time must be a plus.