2017 was nothing short of a great year for lift filming, no doubts about that. I was able to visit quite a few extraordinary places at quite a few extraordinary buildings & film a few extraordinary lifts during the year of 2017. While the year was horrible for me in other factors, I will say this: my YouTube Channel will miss it a lot!
This year, FYI, I will REFUSE TO FILM ANY LIFT THAT HAS ANY MONITOR BUTTON EXCEPT FOR PC, 1500 & HALO ALONG WITH EPCO SUPER SUCK LINE! Therefore, my lift filming choices when I go to New York City this year are highly limited!
I will do everything in my power to make 2018 as great a year for lift photography as 2017. I will do my best this year to prevent the failures of 2017 from happening this year. As of January 14, there will be a link on the sidebar of the EleFilm blog which goes directly to the Lift Filming Calendar. I will be FREQUENTLY updating the Lift Filming Calendar when something changes on the itinerary.
Furthermore, once I know that a trip to a Charlotte Kingdom city has no chance of not happening (this year), I will NOT SUPPLY DEPTH-ORIENTED BLOG POSTS ABOUT MY LIFT ENCOUNTERS BEFORE THEY HAPPEN! What I will instead do is post #FRIRND updates with a picture of the lift I filmed few minutes after most of the lifts I have filmed.
Major accomplishments in 2017
As for major accomplishments, I think I have accomplished a lot in 2017 to be proud of. Here are all of my accomplishments:
- Filming my first Elevonic 411M
- Riding & filming my first Gen2 ever
- Riding & filming my first ThyssenKrupp MRL (traction though) ever
- Filming my first Endura (though a mod & not MRL)
- Filming my first standard Schindler MT
- Filming my first Otis Elevonic 401 (though slightly upgraded)
- Riding my first Impulses in at least 5 years
- Tallest hydraulic lifts I have ridden & filmed
- Riding over 5 MRL traction lifts in one year
- Fastest & tallest lifts I've ridden on my own
- Oldest original lifts I've filmed so far (from the mid 1970s)
- Riding & filming a Schindler RT on my own (completely original from 1991)
- Riding & filming a completely original 80s OTIS (Series 1 from 1985 which has been modernized later on which I filmed)
- Getting stuck in a lift for over 2 minutes (didn't film)
- Filming the Western Hemisphere's fastest lifts
- BIGGEST ACCOMPLISHMENT: Adding 2 more cities to the Charlotte Kingdom
To be short, these accomplishments are what made 2017 such a positive year for my YouTube Channel! Not only that, but I was able to visit FOUR Charlotte-kingdom major cities. These were Secaucus, Fort Lauderdale, New Haven & Hartford.
2018
2018's first lift was pretty nice! I am ALREADY having angelical feelings for what this year's ideas are!
On Monday afternoon, I filmed a three story ThyssenKrupp hydraulic lift. This was the FIRST lift I have filmed in 2018. Needless to say, I was extremely impressed by the way the lift was running.
- The motor was so quiet I couldn't even hear it. Not even the people with maximum volume earbuds could hear that motor.
- It was running NOTHING like a hydraulic lift! It was so smooth I thought it was MRL.
- The leveling going up was so smooth I couldn't even tell we were leveling.
So far, I am having optimistic feelings about 2018, after just riding the FIRST lift, which was nothing too special COMPARED TO other lifts I filmed.
I have broken a record on Monday. I have ridden my first mall lift on my own & managed to film it without getting busted. Get this: it was a SIMON mall.
So far, ideas include a possible trip to Atlanta during the summer (which might include a drive to Charlotte), as well as Pittsburgh in the Spring (idea) & a set-in-stone trip to Boston (most likely).
Atlanta
For Atlanta, I will be a little bit more relaxed on the blog posts. They will be nowhere near as detailed as LA's former blog posts. When discussions are being held on Atlanta's ideas, then I will take paper notes during the discussions as fuel for new blog posts.
As for that, I will be scheduling blog posts every 2nd Sunday (I won't play those loopholes that I played for LA this time). Sundays are your days! They will be up every other Sunday at 8:45 AM & the verdict day is currently on July 1st. The first update blog post will therefore be up on January 14. It will discuss only the basics of it, if we were to go, as well as provide you a projected forecast of how likely we are to go (up until January 28).
- If verdict day (July 1) ends up being good, then between verdict day & our proposed first day of the trip, you will receive numerous smaller blog posts about what routes we will most likely take, what hotels we are staying at & what lifts I am hoping to film (I am hoping to film only her BEST lifts if I go, this means no standard high rise lifts). There is a very SLIM chance we could be going to Charlotte for a few hours if it works out. Due to insufficient timing, you will only receive Charlotte plans on #FRIRND during the trip, once again, if it ends up working out.
- If verdict day (July 1) ends up being the same way as December 7 (Los Angeles), then all blog posts after July 1 for Atlanta will be canceled & we will save Atlanta for the graduation trip as a possible EMERGENCY ALTERNATIVE to going to LA, if LA decides to join the picture by January 2019.
As of right now, we are AT MOST 10% likely to go to Atlanta during the summer of 2018.
As well as that, I may include projected forecasts for Pittsburgh at the bottom of each & every Atlanta trip update blog post until March 25. Verdict day for Pittsburgh is March 25.
In addition, there is now a likelihood of me going to Fort Lauderdale AND possibly Miami if I am able to go to Fort Lauderdale (during Spring recess April 1 to April 7). Below shows a chart of which cities I am most probable & least probable to visit during the first half of 2018, not omitting New York City (which is NOT in the Charlotte Kingdom & will not be, ever).
As you could see right below (or if you CAN'T see right below), NYC has a 75% chance of happening. That being said I actually do have SOME PLANS to visit the NYC Marriott Marquis, One WTC, possibly the Empire State Building, ROW NYC, Millennium by Hilton Hotel, alongside the Westin OR W Times Square (all AFTER June 5). Out of the 8 cities below, NYC has the highest probability of happening, next spot being Secaucus. Just so you know, NONE of the hotels I am choosing to visit in NYC if/when I go have Monitor TR. However, during my EleFilms, if I have NO CHOICE but to ride a lift that has Monitor TR, I will only take pictures of the panels, NOT FILM IT!
As of right now here is the order from most probable to least:
In addition, there is now a likelihood of me going to Fort Lauderdale AND possibly Miami if I am able to go to Fort Lauderdale (during Spring recess April 1 to April 7). Below shows a chart of which cities I am most probable & least probable to visit during the first half of 2018, not omitting New York City (which is NOT in the Charlotte Kingdom & will not be, ever).
As you could see right below (or if you CAN'T see right below), NYC has a 75% chance of happening. That being said I actually do have SOME PLANS to visit the NYC Marriott Marquis, One WTC, possibly the Empire State Building, ROW NYC, Millennium by Hilton Hotel, alongside the Westin OR W Times Square (all AFTER June 5). Out of the 8 cities below, NYC has the highest probability of happening, next spot being Secaucus. Just so you know, NONE of the hotels I am choosing to visit in NYC if/when I go have Monitor TR. However, during my EleFilms, if I have NO CHOICE but to ride a lift that has Monitor TR, I will only take pictures of the panels, NOT FILM IT!
As of right now here is the order from most probable to least:
- NYC 75%
- Secaucus 12%
- Charlotte 2%
- Atlanta 2%
- New Haven 3%
- Pittsburgh 2%
- Hartford 2%
- Fort Lauderdale 1%
- Miami 1%
From this list & possibly the pie chart below (if you could see the graph), don't expect any Charlotte Kingdom ideas to become plans except for Secaucus.
VERDICT DAYS AS OF RIGHT NOW:
- Borgata: February 1
- Pittsburgh/Fort Lauderdale: March 25
- Atlanta/Charlotte: July 1
As for the Borgata, the next big update will be here tomorrow morning at 8:45 AM. Currently it is at a 90 percent chance of happening on February 2-4. If it does, hopefully I will have time to film a majority of the lifts at the hotel (INCLUDING the MARKET & meeting room lifts which are hydraulic). I will try my ABSOLUTE BEST to film as many of the hydraulic lifts throughout the two buildings' lower levels as I could as much as I possibly could film them. I've seen videos of the hydraulic lifts, especially the Fujitec one & I am dying to take a ride on & film the 2-story Fujitec hydraulic lift very much, due to its outstandingly epic-sounding hydraulic motor.
A verdict blog post will be on the EleFilm Blog for the Borgata on the evening of February 1st. You should get a clear insight of what lifts I might be filming if the verdict turns good.
A verdict blog post will be on the EleFilm Blog for the Borgata on the evening of February 1st. You should get a clear insight of what lifts I might be filming if the verdict turns good.
What I will do this year to prevent the failures of 2017
This year, I am going to use the unsuccessful December 2017 LA trip experiment to fuel my PB trends for this year. All trends will be experimental. This means final verdicts are based on data from graphs, not on-spot discussions.
ONE IMPORTANT THING TO REMEMBER FOR THE FIRST HALF OF 2018: Trips to ANY part of the Charlotte Kingdom are NEVER 100 percent set-in-stone! However, it is these special opportunities & only those ones where I will keep you posted every second of the day!
This year, FYI, I will REFUSE TO FILM ANY LIFT THAT HAS ANY MONITOR BUTTON EXCEPT FOR PC, 1500 & HALO ALONG WITH EPCO SUPER SUCK LINE! Therefore, my lift filming choices when I go to New York City this year are highly limited!
I will do everything in my power to make 2018 as great a year for lift photography as 2017. I will do my best this year to prevent the failures of 2017 from happening this year. As of January 14, there will be a link on the sidebar of the EleFilm blog which goes directly to the Lift Filming Calendar. I will be FREQUENTLY updating the Lift Filming Calendar when something changes on the itinerary.
Furthermore, once I know that a trip to a Charlotte Kingdom city has no chance of not happening (this year), I will NOT SUPPLY DEPTH-ORIENTED BLOG POSTS ABOUT MY LIFT ENCOUNTERS BEFORE THEY HAPPEN! What I will instead do is post #FRIRND updates with a picture of the lift I filmed few minutes after most of the lifts I have filmed.
2019
If you are excited about 2019, I will leave the EleFilm forum open for that purpose! Currently, I have big IDEAS (NOT PLANS) for 2019. One of them could be for LA, while another one could be for possibly Miami, so please FLOOD THE FORUM WITH YOUR IDEAS! Be as creative & sophisticated with your ideas as possible.
I will use a time period between September 2018 & March 2019 to start gathering ideas for possible feasible trips to Charlotte-like cities I could visit during the summer of 2019, or the summer of the year I graduate from high school. I will use these six months to do core research on famously filmed lifts at different cities, take a lot of notes & then organize ideas & turn the most practical ones into real plans for my trip. Currently, Los Angeles does not look like it's going to work out, but you never know. It's still just under a year & a half away from now & you will know a lot more.
I will use a time period between September 2018 & March 2019 to start gathering ideas for possible feasible trips to Charlotte-like cities I could visit during the summer of 2019, or the summer of the year I graduate from high school. I will use these six months to do core research on famously filmed lifts at different cities, take a lot of notes & then organize ideas & turn the most practical ones into real plans for my trip. Currently, Los Angeles does not look like it's going to work out, but you never know. It's still just under a year & a half away from now & you will know a lot more.
By June or July 2019 (latest) I should have my driver's license. IF THIS IS THE CASE, then I will be able to film a heck ton more lifts because I will be able to drive to them. If so, then definitely expect a heck ton more lift videos from Hartford, New Haven & Secaucus. For my first road trip I want to drive to Miami.
I am saving Houston TX for after 2019 (possibly even as late as December 2025). Since Houston is literally PACKED DENSELY with amazing lifts, it is going to take years of planning to get a solid trip itinerary together for that city. I am NOT LYING, I have seen beyond 150 videos of lifts from Houston, Sugar Land & PASADENA, the vast majority of them were amazing & looked appealing to me just by WATCHING THE VIDEOS, so, if you're asking about any plans for Houston TX, I will leave a discussion for that on the EleFilm Forum during June 2018.
Please don't ask about anything after 2019 as I am still thinking about what to film for the first half of 2018.
Currently, my graduating year is 2019, but this is not 100%. If it happens to be AFTER 2019, then there is a greater chance I will be able to drive, therefore breaking the restriction on what cities I could visit & for how long. Should I not graduate in 2019, I will use the ideas from September 2018 - March 2019 to help me plan out a better graduation trip during my actual high school graduating year.
Since I had a considerably stressful first half of high school (by considerably stressful I'm talking, so stressful I wasn't sure if I was going to make it through Sophomore year without dropping out), I want to make it one of the most special moments of my lift filming career when I graduate high school.
Please don't ask about anything after 2019 as I am still thinking about what to film for the first half of 2018.
Currently, my graduating year is 2019, but this is not 100%. If it happens to be AFTER 2019, then there is a greater chance I will be able to drive, therefore breaking the restriction on what cities I could visit & for how long. Should I not graduate in 2019, I will use the ideas from September 2018 - March 2019 to help me plan out a better graduation trip during my actual high school graduating year.
Since I had a considerably stressful first half of high school (by considerably stressful I'm talking, so stressful I wasn't sure if I was going to make it through Sophomore year without dropping out), I want to make it one of the most special moments of my lift filming career when I graduate high school.
How this should work out
Because I want to make this trip as error free & as perfectly thought out as I possibly could, I am launching a six-month long research project, which will outline everything, book-form. I am doing this to rule out bad lifts that are less likely to get views on my YouTube Channel, as well as striving for absolute perfection during lift filming throughout the actual trip. The research project will be split into five phases. SEPTEMBER 2018 - MARCH 2019 WILL BE DEVOTED TO CORE RESEARCH WHILE APRIL 2019 & LATER WILL BE DEVOTED TO FINALIZING DECISIONS!
Rule: Lifts with my least favorite buttons will NOT be filmed!
- PHASE 1
- September 2018: Launch a research project in book form (Google doc) & start producing projected forecast trends for all 12 cities EXCEPT SECAUCUS, NEW HAVEN & HARTFORD (These three will be the emergency choices if all 9 other cities are not practical), long introductions
- October 2018: Depth-oriented risk analysis & factors with visual charts
- November 2018: Watch YouTube videos one city at a time & only include the videos of the best lifts along with taking notes on the videos. MINIMAL OR NO WORK ON RESEARCH PROJECT DURING THIS MONTH
- PHASE 2
- December 2018: Incorporate notes onto research project
- January 2019: Re-evaluate depth-oriented risk analysis & revise it with new visual charts
- February 2019: Begin ruling out impractical cities by removing them from the research project
- PHASE 3
- March 2019: Make a summary of which lifts are the best lifts & which lifts should be filmed in order for each city
- First half of April 2019: Make a list of 2 to 3 most practical cities from the new list with visual charts
- PHASE 4
- Second half of April 2019: Finalize decisions & incorporate phase 3 from the two most practical cities for the trip
- Very end of April 2019: Publish document as a view-only link
- PHASE 5
- May - June 2019: Make necessary revisions & include new info to research project about what month trip could be happening
Moral
THIS YEAR, NO IDEAS FOR THE CHARLOTTE KINGDOM ARE EVER CONCRETE, EVEN IF THE ODDS DO TURN OUT TO BE CLOSE TO 100%! IN FACT, NO PB TREND WILL PEAK PAST 99%! When ideas are mentioned for the Charlotte Kingdom, EXPECT THEM NOT TO WORK OUT! I am using what I learned from LA & Fort Lauderdale's near failure. The greatest odds we will have this year of going to a Charlotte-like city are 99 percent once a verdict is made & it says that we are going. The odds of us going to New York City throughout 2018 are at minimum 10 to 20 times as likely as us going to a Charlotte Kingdom-rank city. However, when I do encounter lifts in NYC, I will make wise choices in which lifts I will film & which ones I will not.
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