Keep your eyes peeled for that, but in the meantime, co-owner Alex Harman and some of the team help us find out a bit more about Stand Your Ground Media…
So Alex, what is Stand Your Ground Media and what role do you play?
ALEX: Stand Your Ground Media is an independent, professional video and photography company, based in London. We produce high quality video, photography and sound content for a wide a range of clients but predominantly within the music industry. My role in the company is co-owner, producer and video director.
Who else is involved in Stand Your Ground Media and what do they do?
ALEX: There’s me and two other co-owners, Nath and Jack. We have a really enthusiastic team of professionals that work for us undertaking jobs from motion graphics though to live sound engineering. Along with our seven-man core, we also have a wealth of contacts to call upon if a production requires it.
Tell us how Stand Your Ground Media began. When and where did you begin working together?
NATH: We met in 2008 at college studying a TV and Film course. We collaborated a lot and realised that we had a professional chemistry, and decided to do our own thing, and start this company. During our time at college, we worked with local bands and businesses, gaining experience and skills. In late 2009, we had the opportunity to work with True Tiger when they supported Enter Shikari on their UK tour and that was an experience that cemented our relationship with the band, who recently signed with EMI. Recently we moved to London, where we now reside.
As a company, do you have a unified aim? If there was one goal for SYGMedia what would it be?
ALEX: Our aim is simple: to become a full time video production company, working with great people, and creating amazing content.
What do you think sets Stand Your Ground apart from other video production companies out there?
JOE: I’m quite new to the team but to me it fees like Stand Your Ground Media is a great company because we are not just work colleagues, we are all friends. Everyone in the company has a specific role that we stick to on productions. This means we can achieve far more, at a competitive level and deliver high quality results.
If you could chose any band to work with – shoot live, make a video or documentary for, which band would it be and why?
ALEX: When we were shooting True Tiger, we were bouncing video ideas back and forth with Enter Shikari, so doing the studio diaries with them was really good. It has always been on the cards and to finally do that was a real achievement.
How did you personally get into video production? Do you remember the first video you ever made?
NATH: I have always had a keen interest in video production and the way films are made. I studied video production, where I met Alex and Jack, and the first video we created was a music video for my friend’s band, Lipstick Revolution. The video was shot on a Handycam in 4:3. Since then, my willingness to improve and passion for video has been ongoing. I feel, looking back at that video, I can see a real improvement producing video as a team.
JACK: Coming from a technical theatre background, I initially wanted to work in that field. The only reason I studied a Video Production course was because the college didn’t offer a theatre course, and I felt that video production was well-suited to my practical skills. I really got into the video production and enjoyed working with Alex and Nath on a regular basis. I still like to mix my theatre lighting and sound background into some of our videos.
You guys have been in the studio with Enter Shikari the last few weeks shooting a studio diary with them. How have they been to work with?
ALEX: It was a great eight days, but tiring. Working with such a great bunch of guys was cool, a really friendly atmosphere. As a band, they are very hard working, energetic and creative so it was great fun to come up with quirky ideas for the videos with them.
You recently hooked up with the guys at Crashburn Media to shoot Four Year Strong’s Kingston ‘Rise Or Die Trying’ show. How did you get involved with that? How was your experience of that evening?
JACK: We’ve been working with Crashburn for about two years now. Alex first worked with them in 2009 as a camera operator at Relentless Boardmasters Festival, so our friendship goes back a while. For FYS, I took my 24 channel audio recording set up to take a live feed of the gig; all to be mixed down for the DVD and we also took three of our cameras down. It was an insane night – sweaty sums it up well!
You’ve worked with quite a diverse roster of acts – from Example to Scratch Perverts to Ghost Of A Thousand to Tiger Please. Who has been the most fun to work with? Have you had to deal with many egos?
NATH: All acts are different; we always take that into account when on a project. As you say we have worked with a lot of different artists, some of course remain as just clients and others become great friends. As for egos, we have to remain professional, but yeah, there are always a few.
We take it there’s quite a diverse collection of music tastes within SYG…
NATH: Yeah you’re right, our car song choices really vary from the classics of S Club 7 and Aerosmith though to A Day To Remember and True Tiger!
What video/project are you proudest of to date?
ALEX: We stand by our motto of every video should be better than our last. I’m extremely proud of our latest video for singer/songwriter Billy Hutchinson, It was an adventurous shoot in Embankment where we used our latest toy, the Canon 5D mk11.
How is 2011 shaping up for SYG? Any exciting projects in the pipeline you can talk about?
JACK: Having recently become a Limited Company, things are going well. We are really pleased to be fully booked for both March and April working with a lot of bands and businesses. At the start of this year we were able to take on four new members of staff, which will allow us to inevitably build. In 2012 we plan to go full time and build a studio space to hold our expanding business.
Do you have any advice for all the budding videographers out there?
ALEX: Film as much as you can and be prepared to work for nothing! Network and take on all the opportunities that you can. If you email someone for work experience, and they don’t reply, it doesn’t mean they aren’t interested, they may just be too busy to reply. Show perseverance and pester them. Watch videos, TV and films and understand and appreciate the industry you want to be in.
You’ve just wrapped up Enter Shikari’s new video for ‘Destabilise’ (above) which was shot in a spoof jazz manner. Who’s idea was this?
JOE: Well, Alex was in the studio with them in February and he asked them to do an acoustic performance for one of the studio diaries. They went off to practice and came back with a jazzed-up acoustic version of their track, ‘Destabilise’! He and the guys then decided that it would be cool to shoot a proper music video for the track and record it properly, so I worked with him on it.
ALEX: We just planned a day in their busy schedule to go along and shoot it. For the location we decided on Chris’s house where they practice and write because he had a huge grand piano, ornate furniture and a lovely garden, which went perfectly with the song. All the ideas were improvised on the spot so it was really great, because we didn’t have many constraints to worry about and it wasn’t too over-thought. We had three days of post production after which went really smoothly. A great project all in all!
How much more fun was it to shoot something a bit tongue-in-cheek like that?
ALEX: Amazing fun! It was a great day just coming up with ideas with such creative people and not having all the worries that you sometimes have shooting a big, pre-planned production. Hopefully people will enjoy the video and the track, which is available as a free download.
To see more of Stand Your Ground Media’s work, have a look at:
Their website: www.standyourgroundmedia.com
Their Vimeo channel: www.vimeo.com/sygmedia
If you’re interested in working with SYG Media, drop Alex an email at alex@standyourgroundmedia.com