The 11-time Emmy Award-winning seriesLove, Death + Robotsdropped nine new episodes, returning to Netflix on May 20 with a third volume. The animated anthology series welcomes scripts by the acclaimed writers John Scalzi (Stargate Universe), Andrew Kevin Walker (Se7en), Philip Gelatt (Love, Death + Robots), and four-time Emmy winner Alberto Mielgo, among others.
Forhis episode “Jibaro”, Mielgo takes the reins - stepping in as the writer and director. Throughout his career, the director and animator has worked onCorpse Bride,Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,andTron: Uprising;as well as the LDR Volume 1 episode"The Witness".Game Rant spoke with Mielgo about how his Volume 3 story came together, the show’s short-episode format, and the pushback he received during production.
Related:Love, Death + Robots Volume 3 Review
The director-writer opened up about how his story came to fruition. He says that he started with the visuals, before crafting the story.
The first thing that came to my mind was the visual of a siren singing. And then, I wanted to create a situation around that. The whole story is about a toxic mother relationship. So, it started with some visuals, and then I started to let it go. I started focusing on something that is more conceptual, rather than just the visuals.
“Jibaro” has many moving parts and comes together like a dark fairytale - intertwining folklore, different cultures, and3D animationto tell a story about a deaf knight. It packs a punch in just over 15 minutes. When asked about the short length of episode, Mielgo says that the process is “a thing of its own.”
The short format is a thing of its own. You are given 15 minutes to make something that is fulfilling and impactful, and after that, the audience needs to feel a reward. It is almost like a completely different technique. I feel that nowadays, with longer shows, we are losing the ability to be precise.
When it comes to pushbacks, Mielgo notes that technology typically poses a problem due to its limitations.
Technology is something that fascinates me. Of course, every time we start a project, we need to dive into new ways of doing things, things that, perhaps, have never been done. So, we actually need to reinvent it ourselves. The pushback is usually frustration that technology is not working as expected, that happens a lot with 3D renders. There is always some technological pushback. Obviously, our imagination goes wild, and sometimes we ask too much. But I think that technology is wise and the people behind it are also very wise. We ended up finishing it [the episode] successfully, and I am super happy for everybody.
Love, Death and RobotsVol. 3 is currently streaming on Netflix.
Next:Interview: Love, Death + Robots EP Tim Miller and Director Jennifer Yuh Nelson Talk About Volume 3, Three Robots Sequel, More
