Thread by @strawhousefilms

Ok here we go. God’s Own Country @Film4 starting soon. You can follow the thread here ❤️ #gocwithme #gocfanfamiy

Thank you for joining me late on a Monday night #gocwithme

Prepare for terrible spelling and grammar

I haven’t seen God’s Own Country for a few years so a bit nervous to see it #gocwithme

Not sure I’d class it as ‘explicit and offensive’... #gocwithme

The farm is in Keighley, West Yorkshire but no longer exists. John the farmer had to sell it. It’s now 2 lovely posh houses #gocwithme

Keep an ear out for the sound design - especially the very specific use of bird song and winds... #gocwithme

Josh O Connor!!! #gocwithme

Josh is wonderful man and actor. He literally transformed himself both physically and emotionally to play Johnny. I think it is one of cinemas truly extra ordinary performance #gocwithme

Top secret: the bathroom was in another farm up the road. They were pretty much the only scenes we shot out of sequence #gocwithme

Ah Gemma Jones! So brilliant at capturing dour care #gocwithme

Josh loved that quad bike #gocwithme

This was one of my religious references. The film is kind of full of them. Shout if you spot them #gocwithme

The barn where we filmed was totally inaccessible. Everything had to be had carried and took an hour each way #gocwithme

Both Josh and Alec learned how to do everything on the film for real. They both worked on farms for weeks #gocwithme

Josh was so good at this internal exam of the heifer... #gocwithme

It was important for me to show Johnny had tenderness and care despite being very closed off. His care for his animals was so tender #gocwithme

I cast Josh and then realised he didn’t have a driving license! He could drive but only on private or closed roads #gocwithme

love this scene at the cattle market. It was in Otley where my Dad goes. All the people there are real farmers from the area #gocwithme

Harry Lister Smith plays the trainee auctioneer. He’s a very good actor #gocwithme

That’s the cattle truck my Dad uses to take beasts to market! #gocwithme

Poor Johnny. He can’t connect emotionally. I think he’d have had fun with the trainee auctioneer on a night out #gocwithme

Ian Hart is not only an incredible actor but a beautiful man. He did so much extensive research into people who have strokes. He maintained Martin’s disability even when not on camera #gocwithme

I think Johnny just wants his Dad to love him #gocwithme

It’s tea time. Nan always makes sure there’s hot food. She’s a good provider #gocwithme

love how Johnny eats. Quickly without tasting or enjoying. Very much like he has sex #gocwithme

That’s Keighley station. My local railway station

Alec Secareanu!!!

There’s Gheorghe! Alec is a wonderful man and an incredible actor. He brought everything to Gheorghe

I remember in the script I described Gheorghe as ‘a tree in November’. Alec totally understood what that meant.

Alec and I decided Gheorghe came to England from Romania with a lover but then it ended. We felt the text was from them.

The caravan was a midden

The relationship between Martin and Nan remind me of so many in my own family.

Johnny feels like a lost boy here. My heart.

Gheorghe changes the environment. He’s a hone maker and brings the light. It’s the first scene where we hear the Gheorghe ‘wind’

This pub is the Kings Arms in Haworth. I chose it for the windows outside so we could see Johnny at the bar from outside

Patsy Ferran!!!!

Robyn is so sweet. It was important she remembered Johnny when he was more care free and that she knew he was gay.

Johnny you knob. You could have fun in the pub! Robyn wants to be your friend!

In rehearsals, Josh wanted to see what it would be like to work all day, get very drunk at the pub and then work all day the next day. So he tried it. He was a bit tired...

Real lamb birthing by Alec. He cried after the lamb was delivered

Mmm. Hens eating their own eggs...

There’s a lot of dialogue in this scene. We cut a lot. Chris Wyatt my wonderful friend and editor, was brilliant at reducing the dialogue. Chris is someone I always want to work with

Gheorghe is addicted to sugar

Gheorghe looking thro the window is one of my favourite frames

Adverts?!? I don’t remember putting these in...

Every film I’ve ever made features a magpie including the one I’m making now

Those two boys on the quad! I love at this stage Gheorghe doesn’t want to touch Johnny #gocwithme

They burn the heather on the moors to encourage new growth for grouse. It was something I’d grown up with. I loved the idea of the lads passing from one world to another.

Here we are. Top Fell (which became known as Top Hell during the shoot)

It’ll be a runt’ but Gheorghe won’t give up on the little lamb! Get it?

Josh would eat the pot noddles before they were soften. All you could hear was crunching

Tense in the barn. Loved those wind sounds slowly building tension

A certain homage

Johnny isn’t used to someone with boundaries

Martin (my Dads friend) is a farmer and was the person who dealt with all the animals. He was a mastermind with sheep.

There’s a curlew...

Josh and Alec became very good dry stone walkers. Lots of practice

Gheorghe’s jumper is actually 100% acrylic

We shot this roll in the mud scene only twice. I love the wide shot of Keighley in the background

Johnny can’t kiss. It’s too much

I love Josh’s hands. They are like meat plates

No words necessary

And another curlew... Harbinger of spring and hope

Gheorghe has such understanding. This is so new for Johnny. It’s hard for him to deal with.

I always saw this as a turning point. Johnny teaching towards Gheorghe, wanting more...

All of these night scenes were lit by real flames

I had always grown up knowing about how you can adopt lambs with the pelt of a dead lamb. It was the perfect embodiment for this relationship for me

My Dad taught Alec how to skin the lamb. He did it in one take

The first Johnny smile!!!!

The freak/faggot line comes directly from my own life

This is such an intimate scene. The way you see Johnny change and discover touch, caress, kissing is utterly transformative for him. Again shot in two takes and it was freezing. The sound plays such an importance with the tension and release here

Johnny picks that scab. A wound that hasn’t healed. But maybe Gheorghe can help...

I think everyone was relieved Top Hell was nearly over...

t was actually snowing when we shot this scene. This is Josh sheltering in an actors warm coat

I’m allergic to score in film but it felt right here. The geese are a homage

I love how things have changed now for Johnny and Gheorghe is a support to him

Josh and Alec became so good with the sheep.

Josh loved filming this scene. He was the lightness if it which I think was a release after things being so bottled up and tense

Josh and Alec are both 6’ 2” tall. I always felt very short next to them

The way Gheorghe understands Johnny and can pull him out of his funk always breaks my heart

Nan knows!!!

Martin knows!!!

Josh loved that bike

Filmed the swimming at Teacup Dam. They spent 10 seconds in that water. It was freezing

The warning call of a tit...

Martins collapse felt utter in dramatic and yet utterly devastating

All filmed at my local hospital Airedale. Johnny looks terrified

I found shooting these scenes very tough. I had to take breaks to cry in private

Joy the canteen cleaning lady is my an actor called Sarah White who is my best friend in real life. Look out for her in Ammonite...

Gheorghe touches Johnny’s finger and then Johnny touches Martin’s finger. It’s all about learning

Always about the farm. They have to be practical

The pasta scene! Fuck this breaks my heart

These lads can act

Gheorghe introduces Johnny to taste

I haven’t mentioned Joshua James Richards the DP. He is an incredible artist

Johnny’s smoke in the bath!

Swallows mate for life

The bed scene. The intimacy. The humour

Gheorghe making cheese. Alec learned how to make sheep cheese. It was excellent. On the dvd there’s an extra scene of the lads eating it

Gemma was terrified of driving the Land Rover but she felt the fear

I know you shouldn’t flush condoms! Very bad

Gemma did the Nan breakdown at the ironing board in one take. It was heartbreaking

My Gran said break-fast

Nan wants Johnny to be happy. She likes Gheorghe

This was the hardest scen to edit. It had a lot more dialogue. Again Chris was a great guiding light

Again. Gheorghe has boundaries but he brings hope. If only Johnny could see it

John Mcrea!!! You might recognise him from Jamie the musical

The first ‘red’ colour appears in the toilet. On the condom machine. Danger Johnny!

I really loved country and western in the pub

Johnny! You fuck wit!!!

After Alec filmed this scene he had a week off. I sent him to London for a holiday. Josh really missed him and didn’t see him until they were filming the last scenes together.

Martin still can’t give up

Swallows again

Johnny doesn’t drink. Something has definitely changed

Johnny finds the jumper in the caravan. When I asked Josh to attack the caravan nothing moved. It was so sturdy

Josh actually got sick after putting on the jumper scene and we had to stop filming for 10 days until he was better

I need a drink!

Thank you for spending the night with me. It’s late but we are in the home stretch...

Johnny bathing Martin. This was taken from personal experience. The connection between Johnny and Martin is incredible for me

Johnny is taking responsibility. He’s trying. But I’m not sure he can do it on his own...

The shot of Johnny in the bath was an incredible piece of art by Joshua James Richards

This Martin/Johnny scene includes two lines I wanted to cut. Probably the only compromise I made on the film

When Nan gives Johnny Gheorghe’s address is the most unconditional love I know

I felt the score really helped to get into Johnny’s head here. It’s by Winged Victory For The Sullen

He is so lost and alone but is pressing on to find Gheorghe

And there’s red again...

Swallows...

These two Bulgarian actors were wonderful

This was the first time Josh and Alec saw each other in over a week. They were excited

Ok so at this point, even though it’s my film, I always start to cry

‘I don’t want to be a fuck up any more’

Patrick Wolf’s The Days destroyed me the first time my ex boyfriend sent it me. And it still does

The lady behind Josh on the coach is Bean Ellis the make up designer

I wanted the last shot of the film to have no edit. I love it when they slam the door as if to say ‘let us get on with it now’

The archive footage was written into the script

Thank you for listening and supporting this film. I have loved watching it and sharing. Josh and Alec are and will remain my best friends for life. I hope we all find our peace. Much love ❤️