ShirtPocket Productions

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Fair Oaks, CA
ShirtPocket Productions

Home of the good folks at ShirtPocket Productions

ShirtPocket Productions, in all of its established entities, is not a "business."

It makes not money, it sells no product or service, and it doesn't "monetize" through clicks, hits or subscribers.

Address

Hazel & Madison
Fair Oaks, CA
95628

Website

http://www.shirtpocketproductions.com/

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ShirtPocket Productions: How We Got Our Name

One gloriously sunny February day in 2014, our founder, self-proclaimed videographer, content creator, CEO, head cook and receptionist found himself doing the perfectly mundane task of running a few errands at his local Walmart. Since he wasn’t buying anything very large, he took advantage of the weather and rode his 2007 Harley Road King the short ride from his home down Highland Road in Baton Rouge. Although he was no stranger, at the time, to “action cam” video, having experimented with ride video in the past using two or three different so-called action cams, as well as some from his iPhone when mounted to the bike, this particular ride was not exactly video worthy - “glorious,” “sunny,” and other equally lofty adverbs and adjectives notwithstanding.

The planets, at least a couple of them, had to align just so for ShirtPocket Productions to come into the world. It was a bit of a fluke, really. There was (and to some extent still is) nothing “intentional” about SPP, the “good folks” who run it or any of the other adventures that have materialized in “another ShirtPocket Short form the good folks at ShirtPocket Productions.” And while “we” have been speaking in the plural first person about “our” founder, and sometimes in the third-person “he,” that person is yours truly. This mode of writing allows me to step outside myself and assume a more collective and detached persona and that persona is, often, very different. But I (we, he) digress... what about those planets?

At the time, action cameras were still in their formative years. There were a few on the market, but GoPro was quickly becoming the industry standard. In October 2013, the Hero 3+ line was released - it was the start of rapid technological advances in on-the-go video technology that continues to this day. However, GoPro was not the first and I did play around with a couple of its predecessors. There were two big limitations with action video - particularly motorcycle video: Sound and vibration. With current, modern image stabilization technology, vibration is no longer a thing, sound is much better, but still has room for improvement. Smart phone imaging was improving, as well, and, like today, the Apple iPhone was leading the way. The planets were foretelling the birth of SPP, but it we were not there yet.

The first planet was the dissolution of my short-lived marriage in Sacramento. This allowed me to maintain just one residence in Baton Rouge to complete my graduate studies at LSU. That, in turn, allowed me to move my stuff - all of it - out of my house in the Fair Oaks, CA (now SPP’s world headquarters) and take the essential stuff with me to Baton Rouge where I would live full-time. One of those essential things was my motorcycle. For my first two years at LSU, my Harley stayed in California where I would ride when I returned home at various times during the year. In the fall of 2013, home was Baton Rouge and my bike was with me. Finally, there was the iPhone 5 in 2012 and the iPhone 5s in 2013. The 5 series had a new, taller form factor such that, when dropped into a shirt pocket, it stuck obtrusively, even inconveniently out of a standard sized shirt pocket. Where its predecessors remained hidden out of site, the iPhone 5 series were not so discreet.

Once in alignment, the final factor was that run for errands on a beautiful, winter day in the Deep South. I really don’t know why it took so long. Perhaps it’s because most of my t-shirts don’t actually have pockets, but on that day it hit me: The phone sticks out of my pocket-the camera lens is at the top of the phone-turn on the video-put the phone in my pocket with the lens facing out-ride. And in that moment the very first ShirtPocket Short was created. It worked much better than I expected - it solved the vibration issues (human bodies make excellent image stabilizers) and helped a lot with the audio. I posted that video on Facebook with this caption: “Put your iPhone on video, hit record and drop it in your shirt pocket. That's how you get a shirt-pocket short.” From there, ShirtPocket Productions grew - very slowly.

In the past few months, SPP has grown more than ever before. We have gained more views, “likes,” comments, interactions and general interest than in all prior years combined. It’s still very small, it’s still just me, it’s still nowhere near anything anyone would call “professional” and it still has not made a dime. We are not/I am not in it for the money - not at the moment anyway. We have spent some money on equipment and the ShirtPocketProductions.com URL, but as far as “business expenses” go, we will cross that bridge when we come to it. Will ShirtPocket Productions grow into a real production company? Maybe, maybe not. Right now it’s fun and if it’s fun and makes money, that’s cool. The minute it becomes not fun, we/I pull the plug.

https://youtu.be/W5d23lAViy0

#peace