Should you not be aquainted with the phrase “Killing your Darlings”, chances are you are spared deep pain. The film making term refers to material that for no other reason than ensuring the smooth flow of a project, doesn’t make the final cut.

Hours of stunning cinematography never see the light of day, but Rat & Dragon have found a way to honour these little moments. “Place cakes are little snapshots of places, people or experiences that are simply too beautiful to ignore,” explains director Saxon Yuen.

“Sometimes there are so many things that need to fit in a 2 minute commercial, some of the best stories never get told. We have created the Place Cake series to home exactly those weird and wonderful experiences, and we simply can’t find time to edit them all!”

Ever wondered what 9 months, 18 countries and 40000km look like in 2 minutes? Rat & Dragon‘s giant game of ‘tag’ shows how it’s done.

“While we were on production for Insider Intel, we had the idea of stringing together all the amazing locations we were shooting in with an overarching creative concept,” explains director Saxon. “Filming tiny elements of a bigger story everywhere we went was confusing at first, but once we were far enough down the line to string a rough edit together, our teams loved it.”

‘Tag’ has now been adapted and bought by STA Travel to showcase their signature ‘Blue Ticket’ product globally.

After the success of Stray Asia’s Vietnam expedition that launched in April 2014, the New Zealand based adventure travel brand has commissioned Rat & Dragon to produce a complete overhaul of their South East Asia marketing content.

“The Vietnam film tapped into a media savvy audience that is genuinely passionate about authentic travel experiences,” explains director Saxon, “so we’re very excited to be asked to capture the real flavours of Stray’s South East Asia network in our upcoming films.”

Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and brand new Stray destination Myanmar are all on the production schedule, as well as an overarching South East Asia hero film. Prepare for film maker heaven.