3D World gets creative lessons from the filmmakers responsible for the third season of this animated sci-fi anthology

WORDS BY TREVOR HOGG

An injured astronaut uses potentially mind-warping drugs to deal with her pain in The Very Pulse of the Machine

Images: Courtesy of Netflix

Painting drives the animation aesthetic of filmmaker Alberto Mielgo

Executive producers David Fincher (Zodiac) and Tim Miller (Deadpool) established Love, Death + Robots to provide a platform for various filmmakers from around the world to channel the mature sensibilities of cult classic Heavy Metal and prove that animation is not only for children. After two volumes, 26 episodes, and 11 Primetime Emmy Awards, the Netflix anthology has released a third volume consisting of nine shorts that include Fincher’s animated directorial debut Bad Travelling as well as Swarm by Tim Miller, Kill Team Kill by supervising director Jennifer Yuh Nelson (Kung Fu Panda 2), and Jibaro by Oscar-winner Alberto Mielgo (The Windshield Wiper).

Making the transition from live-action to animation was not a huge adjustment for David Fincher. “His eye and sense of storytelling are the same,” notes Jennifer Yuh Nelson. “It’s just a matter of what tools he gets to use to make it. David is able to use lenses, cameras and lighting as you would in a live-action production, but you can move things around virtually in animation. So many live-action films are almost animated films now, so there is definitely an overlap.” Fincher believes that Love, Death + Robots isa sandbox where anything is possible and his contribution is the seafaring Ten LittleIndians-inspired Bad Travelling where a ship captain attempts to make a deal with a hungry giant crustacean at the expense of his crew. “I really loved the idea of going into the lion’s den to negotiate with this alien intelligence as it hand-puppets a human carcass,” explains Fincher. “I thought that was inspired cinematically, the idea of, ‘Which face do I look at? Who am I talking to?’”