Ashes of Man: Part III

Stranger Things Studios presents the third and final installment of Ashes of Man.

Up until this point, Wastelander has roamed the remnants of the Twin Cities metropolitan area in his attempt to return to whatever is left of his home.  Meanwhile, “Burlap” has locked himself away inside a garage to escape a pack of cannibals.  Their incessant attempts to break in, along with his gradual starvation, sleep deprivation, and the pervasive hypothermia, has brought Burlap to the furthermost limits of his sanity.

Ashes of Man draws to a violent conclusion as Wastelander and the trapped character “Burlap” at last come into contact with one another in this depiction of nuclear fallout. 

Visit Ashes of Man’s Main Page to find links to the other installments, as well as the trailer and the behind-the-scenes outtakes.

*Spoiler Alter: I recommend you watch Part III before reading the director’s notes.

DIRECTOR’S NOTES

The final fight - despite the fact it was filmed in heavy winds when it was two degrees out, or the fact we filmed from 7:30am until 4:30pm - is not that interesting of a story to talk about.  It was our last winter set, and it went fairly well.  We dressed as warm as possible.  Multiple shirts, multiple pairs of socks, pants, gloves, jackets, etc.  You know, the typical winter-wear.

The fight sequence inside Wastelander’s home, however, is far more entertaining.  We had to take a house, destroy it, film without actually damaging the house, and put it all back together before my wife got home from work.  I can’t imagine that a pregnant woman would be nonchalant about coming home to a mess like that!  Hell, I wouldn’t tell her details, send her pictures, or even show her footage until long after the place was back in order.

Re-watch the scene and I think you’d agree.  We took one door off its hinges, pulled all the photos off the wall, covered the windows with sheets of cardboard, flipped the couch on end, spread crushed spackle all across the floor.

The table, by the way, was bought at a thrift store for twenty bucks, fully with the intent of destroying it.

It was a challenge enough to make sure the dog didn’t eat any of the debris.  To do so, we had a pet gate locked between the fridge and the stove to keep her on one side of the kitchen.  She slept on one side of the gate.  Paul slept off his hangover on the other side of the gate during set-up and between scenes.  That’s right: Imagine doing that fight scene - hurling yourself into a table to smash it, and then being thrown over a chair and hitting the wall - all while your skull is throbbing.  During one of the takes, while attempting to pick up the axe, he stepped on the handle and the butt end of the axe-head swung up into his face.

Meanwhile, we had Tommy laying on the bed, his shirt soaked in tuna fish so that the cat would “eat” him.  It took an hour for the smell to clear the room, even with the plastic sheet protecting the mattress.

I’m amazed that Paul didn’t get nauseous during filming from the stench - especially when between some takes he was laying on the bed next to Tommy’s fishy carcass.

~ Jonathan Strong