‘Slow Horses’ Director Adam Randall Seeks “Comedy in the Darkest Corners”
Above (left to right): director Adam Randall and actor Gary Oldman on the set of Apple TV+ 'Slow Horses'
Netflix’s first UK feature, ‘Slow Horses’ seasons four and six, and soon, commercials and short-form – Adam Randall’s impressive portfolio keeps evolving. Speaking to LBB’s Zara Naseer following his signing with STARLING, it’s clear why: his passion for thoughtful, exciting storytelling shows no signs of slowing down.
“Every project [...] has been honing the many tools at a director’s disposal,” says Adam, and the richness of his work proves it. He’s mastered the interplay between action and emotion, humour and darkness, boldness and nuance, as well as visuals and sound – it makes sense that his initial ambitions were as a musician.
When a director brings so much love for the craft, from the grand narratives set out in pre production to the smallest details brought out in post, there’s plenty to talk about. Read how independent cinema formed Adam’s training ground, how season four shaped his approach to the upcoming sixth season of ‘Slow Horses’ – and anecdotes of Gary Oldman “playing up the London cabbie” – and why he’s now thrilled to experience the fast pace of adland.
LBB> Tell us how you first got into filmmaking – is it a passion you always had?
Adam> I loved films growing up, obsessively watching movie after movie, many of which I was far too young to understand but had a huge impact. My main ambition though was to be a professional musician. I was in my late teens when I realised that what I really wanted to do was make films; it was like a switch being flicked on. Also, not being a very good musician helped sway me.
So night classes studying film got me to university studying film, then directing short films, music promos, sketches – anything to hone my skills. All the while, I was writing and developing to get my first feature made.
LBB> What project do you consider the first milestone in your career, and why? What did you learn from it?
Adam> I made a short film called ‘Hooded’, which was a combination of so many genres and tones I loved – crime, noir, comedy, western. We shot on 35mm, pulled in a lot of favours, and it got me representation and kickstarted my career.
The real professional milestone though was a feature I directed called ‘iBoy’. It was based on a young adult book and produced by a legendary producer whose credits included ‘Donnie Brasco’ and ‘Rainman’. So it was a huge opportunity, but one that took a long time to get made. We tried all routes but always met a dead end. In the end, Netflix read and came on board, and it became their first UK feature. It opened up the industry to me, particularly in the US.
From ‘Hooded’ to ‘iBoy’ and beyond, I’ve spent a lot of time understanding and experimenting with how to make something that feels much bigger than the budget necessarily allows. What has value on screen, what is effective and cinematic. The indie world was also a training ground in how to be flexible and easily adapt; to have a strong vision but allow space for movement and change based on both creative ideas, but also the reality of shooting – budgets, locations, etc.
Every project, from shorts to my four features, to ‘Slow Horses’, has been honing the many tools at a director’s disposal. To use sound, music, and visuals to create mood and emotion; to work with actors to find nuance, texture, and humour. Every project feels like training for the next.
LBB> Now that you’ve honed your style, how would you characterise it? What makes it unique to you?
Adam> I find it difficult to analyse my own work… But I think I’m drawn to the dark and light, how to balance the two – in terms of subject, tone and visually. To be able to move tonally in a scene or a sequence, to find humour in the horror, emotion in the action. I like to shift perspective, to be subjective as much as possible, to allow the audience to feel what a character does, to play action sequences in this way. And generally, I like to have big cinematic visuals – I love using bold colour combinations and darkness. Music and sound is a huge part of my work. I spend a lot of time thinking about sound when prepping and how it can be used to enhance what we see and feel. Music is central, I’ll build playlists before even pre production begins, and often sequences will be born out of certain tracks.
LBB> You directed series four and six of Apple TV+ smash hit, ‘Slow Horses’. How did your approach to either one differ? Did you learn anything from four that you applied to six?
Adam> Going into season six and knowing the cast allowed a shorthand, how each actor liked to work, what they responded best to, etc. I also had a deeper understanding of each character. Because I knew the world so well after season four, I was able to be much more involved in building the story on six. I was in the writers' room, helping to shape the scripts.
Visually, I took what we did in season four and pushed it further. I wanted it to feel even heavier, more dramatic – pelting rain as much as possible, big heavy skies. We created a LUT that was more cinematic, still with the ‘Slow Horses’ grunge, but bolder and more filmic.
We also shot anamorphic for the first time for the show. It felt important that it felt fresh, reinventing itself, but also keeping within the world that has been built and that so many people love. Because of the different locations this season takes us to, I was able to introduce bolder colour palettes at times. Music-wise, I am using more tracks, and being more experimental in how we use sound and music.
Ultimately, I went into six with the confidence to push it more towards my aesthetic, and my familiarity and comfort with the cast and crew that allowed us to take the season into uncharted territory.
LBB> Do you have any fun anecdotes from your time on set that you can share with us?
Adam> These are long shoots, over 100 days, which means we’re shooting across seasons. Season four is set just after Christmas but we’re shooting some of it in June and July…
There’s a scene where Gary is driving a black cab around London, and Jonathan Pryce, Saskia Reeves, and Sean Gilder are squashed in the back. All are in winter clothes, pouring with sweat. Outside the window, despite it being set in winter, we’ve got ice cream vans, people wearing shorts… It's a nightmare.
Gary’s driving around central London, and between takes he’s got his window down, and other cabbies are next to him and he’s playing up the London cabbie – he’s chatting away to them, talking about the traffic, complaining about the heat… Half of them chatted away oblivious to who they were talking to. The other half thought they were in ‘Slow Horses’.
LBB> What’s prompted you now to turn towards commercials, and how will your approach to filming change?
Adam> As mentioned, these are long shoots… And while I’ll continue to direct these big shows and films, I’ve become increasingly excited to jump into projects that allow me to work with different stories, environments, tones – but with a much quicker pace. I want to push myself creatively, try different techniques, work with different actors, enjoy the thrill and excitement of planning and shooting many more projects, and commercials are a brilliant way of doing that. I love having a task, a message to get across, or a problem to solve – understanding it, building the mechanism to achieve it, and then executing it.
LBB> What are your favourite parts of the filmmaking process, and why?
Adam> I really love it all, genuinely. I love the script/story process, I worked in development, and I write as well, so I have a huge passion for that. Then pre-production is where dreams are made – imagining the best version, figuring out how to achieve it, working with your HODs – the planning… When I’m prepping, it really does feel like it doesn’t get better.
But then I love shooting, always have, there’s nothing like being on set, executing the vision, reacting to what may come up in the moment, working with actors, finding hidden gems…
And then post production is almost back to the writing stage, honing the story and vision, and every layer a new set of tools to better tell the story, from the edit, to the grade, and the amazing trickery and elevation sound can bring. And then obviously music…
LBB> What qualities do you most admire in your filmmaking heroes?
Adam> What I most admire, and I hope to bring, is a strength in vision, a clarity but then a flexibility to adapt to different stories, genres, and tones. I love recognising a director’s work from how they look and sound, that they have such a strong voice, you can tell it’s them just by watching. But then they can take that unique voice and make it work in different ways depending on the brief – not imposing it but allowing it to enhance the story they are set to tell. I’ve always enjoyed filmmakers who blend humour and tragedy – who find the warmth and comedy in the darkest corners.
LBB> What ambitions do you have for your future as a director? What kind of projects are you hoping to take on?
Adam> Variety! I want to tell long stories and short stories, work that will play on the big screen, and then work on everyone’s small screens… I’d like to explore different worlds and genres, and continue working with an amazing cast. I’d love to do more world-building. I’ve directed a lot of contemporary work, a lot of urban thrillers, so creating other worlds – from the past or future – would be hugely satisfying and exciting.
LBB> Outside of work, what’s inspiring you right now?
Adam> As always, music provides a huge amount of inspiration. From electronic artists like Rival Consoles and Max Cooper, to contemporary UK jazz like Go Go Penguin and Portico Quartet. Films from around the world continue to inspire, particularly Asian cinema, and so much great work in TV. I read a lot of fiction and non-fiction and am partial to videogames – although there’s never enough time…
To chat more about Adam, drop STARLING’s EP and founder, Charlie Stanfield, an email at charlie@starlingfilm.com or call him on 07968 420 873.
