Swallow the Rat - Don't (Official Music Video)

Official music-video for Swallow the Rat's single, Don't.
Explorations of a young woman challenging representations of her identity.

  • Archie Porter
    Director
  • Kaitlin Stewart
    Director
  • Archie Porter
    Writer
  • Swallow the Rat Ltd.
    Producer
  • Kaitlin Stewart
    Key Cast
  • Project Type:
    Experimental, Music Video
  • Genres:
    Experimental, Music Video
  • Runtime:
    4 minutes 28 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    February 28, 2021
  • Production Budget:
    0 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    New Zealand
  • Country of Filming:
    New Zealand
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    2:35:1
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Archie Porter, Kaitlin Stewart

Archie Miles Porter is an emerging filmmaker and researcher, specialized in narrative and documentary filmmaking as well as music-videos. His work focuses on creative approaches to visualizing the body on-screen, as well as subverting representations of gender and identity. Through emphasizing texture, tone and atmosphere akin to the work of David Lynch and Lynne Ramsay, Archie aims to challenge and inspire audiences through subversive modes of representation.

Kaitlin Stewart is a creative operating in a variety of fields. Her passion for film production and a keen eye for aesthetic seeps into her work. She has worked with a variety of clients such as Swallow the Rat, Equal Voices Arts, and Cartoon Villain.

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Director Statement

For this video we wanted to explore representations of femininity and female identity, as well as potential methods of subverting these portrayals. This idea was an extension of Archie’s Masters research surrounding on-screen body and gender representation, but we wanted to contextualize this within an engaging music video. Fundamentally, we wanted to make something visually striking and emphasize movement, both in terms of the physical action and through editing techniques. The song shifts tonally, and its intensity builds throughout the latter half, and thus we wanted the visuals to reinforce this sense of fragmentation. We are interested in capturing the body through strange or subversive ways, and I think the video reflects that fascination.