Tim Miller took to the stage at Lucca Comics & Games to talk to fans about the new Secret Level series and gave details about the process it took to bring the show to life.
Lucca Comics & Games has come to an end, but there is still plenty of news and details from the festival worthy of coverage. Tim Miller, known for his work on Love, Death & Robots, shared details about the new Secret Level series and gave a glimpse of some episodes that will premiere when the series hits Prime Video this December.
Lucca is a unique event that gives massive European audiences a look at countless shows and media within a medieval walled city. While it is only starting to gain popularity with audiences beyond Italy, it brings over 300,000 people to the city, all celebrating their love of media, comics and games. It’s no wonder more companies are using the space to announce new trailers — as we saw with the Squid Game season 2 trailer — or give creators space to talk about new projects like Tim Miller’s Secret Level.
“It was immediately clear that Miller is a fan of gaming, and Secret Level is an extension of this enthusiasm.”
Amid fans’ cheers and excitement, Tim Miller took the stage and quickly launched into a discussion about his new show. With the Italian moderator asking questions, Miller revealed that Secret Level is a complex project born from a deep passion for and love of the source material. It was immediately clear that Miller is a fan of gaming, and Secret Level is an extension of this enthusiasm.
“All these episodes come from different publishers and different developers,” he explained excitedly. “It is a celebration of games, and it’s not just games that are popular now. It is games coming out in the future, like Exodus, games that have been long-time classics like Pac-Man and Mega Man, and also independent games like Sifu and Spelunky. So it really is a celebration of all games and our love letter to gaming. Each episode is an original story. We work with the developers, discussing the most interesting parts of the lore and the characters that are really popular or best represent the game.”
Miller further explained the process of getting publishers on board, saying, “It was a difficult idea for people to wrap their heads around as a business because they’re all competitors. But once they understood what the show was and how it could benefit everybody and the industry in general, it was pretty easy.
Amazon made it easier by understanding it was not about them owning the rights to make the show or controlling the characters and the game. Amazon said, ‘We just want to show it to the fans and put it on the air,’ and that made the deal much easier for us. So the game publishers could see how they could all work together, and then it was pretty easy — they wanted to be a part of it.”
Wrapping up the question, he explained, “People in the game industry love the industry itself, so it’s a little less competitive. People are more excited about the industry and what they are making, so it really feels kind of joyous, even if it’s supposed to be competitive.”
Changing gears, Tim Miller was asked about the recent trend of more game adaptations entering the pipeline and what “secret sauce” was needed for a successful adaptation. Miller was blunt in his response, saying,
“I would say that Hollywood has figured out there is a lot of money to be made from the video game industry. But there is no secret key that tells you how to make a video game adaptation any more than there is to make a good book or comic book adaptation. I think, with all those things, it starts with the filmmaker or television show creator having a love for the material. I’ve been to 30 Comic-Cons, I’m 60, and I’ve been reading comics, watching movies, and playing video games for 50 f—ing years.”
One thing was clear: Tim Miller was persistent in his view that while he may be leading the show, it was a collaborative effort involving the game studios throughout the process. They didn’t just take the ideas and run with them; they used the games as a vital part of the process, bringing new stories from the work that has gone into these properties up to this point. They also ensured the studios’ perspectives were included to make it feel authentic.
“We use the games as a guide. Years and years of artwork and design go into them, and we springboard off that most of the time. Secondly, there are so many talented artists working on this show that I only worry about the story; I never worry about it looking amazing — that I just take for granted now. Which is kind of weird, because usually as an artist, you spend so much time worrying about how it looks.
But now, with so many great artists, I don’t even think about it anymore. I just try to focus on the story. But Dave Wilson, the supervising director, is a hardcore gamer. Dave’s the best artist that’s ever worked at Blur, I think, and he’s done an amazing job of making everything look fantastic.”
“We use the games as a guide. Years and years of artwork and design go into them, and we springboard off that most of the time.”
As impressive as the episodes in Secret Level look, CGI has not yet reached the point where it can fully replace traditional filmmaking, especially in rendering humans and familiar everyday elements to look truly lifelike. The uncanny valley remains a challenge for filmmakers and is one of the limitations holding CGI back. Even so, Miller is optimistic about the industry’s progress.
“I don’t think we’re completely across the uncanny valley just yet, but we are slowly climbing the other side up. If you watch this full episode, it looks beautiful, but the Space Marines are still a little stylized. We have other episodes, like one with Keanu Reeves in Armored Core, where he looks like Keanu Reeves if he were 23 years old and a junkie.
So we’re getting very close, and that opens up a whole new area of filmmaking. Animation used to have to be stylistic, but now it can be just the same as live action, and it enables us to tell a whole bunch of different stories we couldn’t otherwise tell, with a scope we couldn’t otherwise afford.”
“I don’t think we’re completely across the uncanny valley just yet, but we are slowly climbing the other side up. We’re getting very close, and that opens up a whole new area of filmmaking.”
He emphasized how far CGI animation has come, explaining, “I just want to say, I’ve been doing this so long, and it’s funny you mention Polar Express. I was doing animation when one of my best friends in the industry was the visual effects supervisor on Polar Express. We all knew it, and when the trailer came out, I called him and said, ‘Dude, what the f—? They look like burn victims.’ And he said, ‘I know, I know, I’m just trying to get the eyes right; maybe it will be okay.’
But we were all aware of it; the tools just weren’t there. That same artist did one of the Love, Death & Robots episodes called Lucky 13, which looks live-action and is amazing. The tools are so much better now.”
Yet, even with all the information Tim Miller shared during the event, nothing got as much reaction from the crowd as the discussion about Pac-Man. The short clip presented a very different take on the character many know and love. Miller explained, “It’s Pac-Man like you’ve never seen him before. We expect some people will be enraged at what we’ve done with Pac-Man. But I can only tell you it was done with the full cooperation of the developers, and it is going to tell you something and will make you see Pac-Man in a new way. It’s the single most violent episode in the series, and I love it.”
And, of course, many people think Pac-Man is for kids, but that is not the case with the Secret Level take on the character. As Tim Miller explained, “You may think, ‘That’s not so bad; I’ll watch that with my five-year-old.’ Think twice.” Despite this level of violence, Bandai Namco has given the all-clear, with the project receiving a thumbs up from the company. Miller didn’t reveal exactly how that came to be, saying, “I can’t answer that question without giving away trade secrets, but let’s just say yes, they were like, ‘Yes.’”
Even with the excitement surrounding Secret Level, Prime Video has not yet given the green light for future seasons. Tim Miller made it clear there are plenty of ideas and games they haven’t explored, and there’s much more they want to do if the series can continue.
“I cannot answer if there will be a season two or not. That is up to you. If you guys watch it, maybe we’ll get another season; if you don’t, who knows? But I can say this: we have a huge list of games we thought would be interesting to put into the show — eight or 10 seasons’ worth of games. There are so many we’d like to have but couldn’t get, or there wasn’t time. If we get more seasons, we’ll do our best to include them. So many were hugely influential and deserve to be in an anthology of games.”
Secret Level is set to premiere on Prime Video on December 10, bringing with it 15 shorts, all based on video game properties. Stay tuned to CGMagazine for more on Secret Level in the lead-up to the premiere.
