INTERVIEW WITH TRON UPRISING'S ALBERTO MIELGO

An interview by Carlos Aguilar and Jean-Eric Hénault

We get on the grid with 3 exciting interviews with the team behind Disney's spectacular new TV series called Tron Uprising. We begin with this interview with the show's art director, Alberto Mielgo who has the chance to work with an amazing crew of equaly talented artists.

In the next few days, we will also feature an interview with Daniel Simon, lead vehicle designer on the show along with Charlie Bean, Executive Producer/Director on Tron.

What is the creative process and involvement as an Art Director, Production Designer on Tron Uprising. What is your role on the production process?

My first duty was to create the universe where everything is happening and also colorize everything on it. This includes not only the environments and the cities,but it also includes the treatment and colors for characters, and to make sure they work within this world. I also have to make sure that the vehicles are part of the same world. All the elements have to mix properly.

After a really long time designing every single piece and deciding about the look and treatment of every object, I go through a very important creative process, which is the colorist script. The colorist script is a very important element in this TV series because every sequence on the show is being art directed in terms of lights and color. I find that the most important aspect of this creative process is the colorist script. That’s where I decide about colors and then with Charlie we think about if a scene needs more attention into certain areas. It’s all about colors and lightning. What I usually do is a very detailed painting, which is like an example of how the final image is going to be.

You mentioned on your blog that you were also working with such artists like Rob Valley and Craig Mullins how was it to work with those phenomenal artists?

Yes, they are phenomenal artists. As an art director you have to bring your own style and flavor to the scene and communicate with your team but it’s also very important to let the people bring their own flavor and taste; otherwise, this would end up being a very egocentric and boring process. Working with people is all about sharing techniques, tastes and learning all from each other. Even though I was spending almost a year and half working on my own with Charlie on making the bible and creating the rules, I always want every single artist to bring their own take and every time I have to launch any of these guys I usually say just do your own thing. We want to see some Craig Mullins here or some Junanans.

Craig Mullins is a huge reference and influence on my world. Since the very first day I saw his website, I was super crazy about it. I think Craig is a huge influence on every painter that is working in the industry. Technically he’s the best and his taste is fantastic. One thing that I really appreciate about Craig is how easy is working with him for two reasons. The first one is that he’s not egocentric at all. He’s a guy that listens and is willing to spend time and listen to what I have to say to him, which is something I really appreciate. The second reason is that he nailed it from the first time, every piece that he does is amazing.

I didn’t know June before but he’s been my right hand in this project. His taste and sense of design is truly amazing. This is what I like about working with talented people that you just let them do their own magic and then when you look at what they’ve done is something that you’d never expect or you would never do yourself. It surprises you. I love his creations and he works in a very different way than I do and that’s something that I really appreciate.

As far as Rob Varley goes, we’ve been working together for almost 9 years. We started working together in some commercials. It seems that some directors and people in the industry like the mix between Rob and me. I really like him as an artist and his personality, too. He’s very independent. One of the things we have in common is that we have our independent side. We work in the commercial side but we also do things way off the table.

When you start a new episode, what is pre-production process?

We start designing the world based on the script. In this TV series, the schedule and timing has been crazy. Many times the storyboard artists were working ahead of us and we were exchanging things as we were designing their panels. They would wait for some of our designs so they could continue. Basically we read the script and then we do some brainstorming, make sketches, and plan where the characters are going to be and where the action is going to happen. Once we have all of this, we design the world and finalize the pieces, the environment, props and suits for the characters. Once all of this is final and approved, we send this overseas to Polygon Pictures in Japan. Once the whole scene is approved, we send it to them and then the next step is to do the colorist script. This is all in terms of design. Of course, there are other processes like the layout. We need to approve the layouts that Polygon is sending because it’s done in 3D and we need to approve them. We also have to approve the animation. But in terms of design, the next step after the whole world is designed is to do the colorist script. Polygon does their own final images based on the colorist script, they send the final images to us and then we correct them. We paint on the top of the frames. That’s basically the process for each episode.

Unlike the real world, the Tron universe seems like the perfect opportunity to design wild creations that would probably not make sense in the real world. How much of a design opportunity or challenge are you presented with?

Yes, of course this is a digital world. You can do basically everything there. I always keep something in mind when I design these worlds. First of all, the chronological aspect where this series is in relation with the first movie and the second movie, the first movie is the beginning and the world is quite empty. Everything is more minimal in the first one. The second movie ‘Legacy’ happens right after the Golden Era of these worlds and it’s under the supervision of this kind of dictator (CLU), which is this evil character. It makes sense also that the world is very dark and very foggy. Our world is right in the middle, between the two movies. So I think it has to be very busy. The other important aspect is that the characters are human and quite similar to us. They can love and they know fear.

These two elements are the basis that I have in mind when designing these worlds. If you do something so crazy people are not going to be connected but that’s why is important that these characters have a human side. That’s why it makes sense to make the cities close to our worlds. We can go wild in design but is nice to have a connection with our reality so people can connect.

Beyond the obvious references from Tron and Tron Legacy, what other sources of inspirations and ideas do you get for the show?

It’s funny but in the beginning when we were starting to design this world, we didn’t have too much access to the second movie. I was living in Spain and I had never watched the original film before. So I started to design the world with my own take and ideas. As an art director, at least in the beginning is important to have your own take and vision. In the very beginning, that’s what I was trying to do. I wanted it to be feel different even thought it’s in the same world. But I didn’t have much influence from the two movies. Obviously when I’m here in the studio, I have to check both films and in the end you cannot really escape from it.

I think we’ve created something different. I hope people appreciate it. I feel that in terms of design, we’ve created something different. We have great characters, and I’m glad that people are connecting with the show. One of the nicest satisfactions is watching the final episode in a nice screen with surround sound, it’s really moving. Especially with the sound is crazy.

Special Thanks to Daniel Simon Disney's Mary Maffei for making these interview possible.

Related Links

Tron Uprising on Disney XD

Alberto Mielgo's personal site