Northern & Western New Jersey Lift Filming Journal

Because of the Omicron variant, coupled with a substantial increase in COVID transmission throughout the United States, all lift filming events will continue to take place virtually  using Bandicam & Skyscrapersim until further notice. Additionally, the Stamford & NYC trips in January & February 2022 have been replaced with virtual lift filming days. These safety precautions are being taken despite me being triple vaccinated & dual-masked.  Further Notice Policy The further notice policy implies that there is a 14-day average of 49,999 cases or fewer, 21-day average of 74,999 cases or fewer, or a 28-day average of 99,999 cases or fewer throughout the United States. In-person lift filming will then resume as long as the 28-day average of the daily U.S. cases does not rise above 100,000. Should it rise above 100,000 at any point in time, the further notice policy will be reapplied & will not be switched back for 28 days. Changes since the December 19 COVID Al...

Because of the Omicron variant, coupled with a substantial increase in COVID transmission throughout the Northeastern United States, all lift filming events will now take place virtually  using Bandicam & Skyscrapersim until further notice, with the exception of the following: January 28-29 trip to Stamford, CT (Stamford Marriott Hotel & Spa) February 18 trip to Staten Island NYC These safety precautions are being taken despite me being triple-vaccinated & dual-masked. When I know more about the severity of the Omicron variant, I will use the available science & data to make temporary decisions on whether to go back to in-person lift filming or remain virtual. ALL DECISIONS ARE SCIENCE & DATA-DRIVEN!

 Here are some of the benefits of filming lifts virtually using Skyscrapersim during the pandemic. Reduce/avoid exposure to COVID-19 By filming lifts virtually using Skyscrapersim & a screen recorder on your computer, you do not face the same risks as filming lifts in person. You do not bump into other people or contract germs which reduces or eliminates your chances of being exposed to COVID-19. Convenience & assurance All you need is a computer, a working build of Skyscrapersim 2.0 Alpha compatible with your computer & a screen recorder to film lifts virtually. This computer can be a Windows or Mac computer. You can film as much as you like, at anytime. You do not have to drive your car around to different buildings film lifts. Additionally, you won't have to worry about negative encounters with security because security "does not exist" in a Skyscrapersim building. No limit to how much you can film Because you can build your own buildings using Sky...

I am writing to announce the successful completion of my fall semester of my junior year at Kean University. I am immensely grateful for how the semester played out & was able to film a tone of lifts throughout the process. Over the next couple of weeks, plans for 2022 will be discussed in full length, which will be subject to revision at any point in 2022 where a revision is deemed fit.

I am excited to announce the resume of in-person Kean classes as of today. Here are the tentative plans for lift filming throughout the semester: September 3 - Hynes Hall 7:45 AM Hynes Hall Premieres 8:00 PM on September 10, trailer 9:30 PM on September 9 on Northern & Western New Jersey Lifts 10 - Old Lifts 5:00 PM Vaughn-Eames Hall Bruce/Townsend Hall Administration Building Nancy Thompson Library Science Building Premieres 9:30 PM on September 30, trailers 3:30 PM & 6:30 PM on September 30 on The Rising Salamander Showdown Series 17 - High Speed Lifts 7:45 AM Hynes Hall STEM Building Green Lane Academic Building North Avenue Academic Building Premieres 9:30 PM on October 30, trailer 8:00 PM on October 29 on The Rising Salamander Showdown Series 24 - Not-Yet-Filmed Lifts 7:45 AM East Campus Liberty Hall Academic Center Kean Hall Harwood Arena Miron Student Center Premieres 6:30 PM on October 2, trailer 5:00 PM on Oc...

Credibility statement:  I do not have the experience of having a negative encounter with security during lift filming, so the information presented here may not be entirely accurate. Consult other lift filmers like tkefan29, DieselDucy & Beno Lifts for insight on how they handled their negative encounters with security. Listen, pal. I know it can be such a fire hornrt pain when things don't go well during your lift filming trip. You were just getting ready to film that beautiful vintage OTIS black button lift in your nearest masonic temple, but instead you're greeted with an unruly security guard who was just accepted for the security position at the temple. He says, "NO VISITORS ALLOWED". At that moment, you're thinking "What the heck did I sign up for?". Not knowing what to do, you dwell on the negative moment & let it carry with you throughout the rest of your lift filming day. Stop right there. This is a classic amateur mistake most beginner ...

Project Vision 21 was a project which involved the shift of all of my channel work on the front end & back end to the cloud  using the tried & true Google software & APIs. The project started in January & February 2021 where it involved my websites, logos, newsletters & video styles undergoing a major redesign as the project favored modular designs, more color variants, more style & more class. I moved my websites from Weebly to Google Sites & Wix when Weebly continued giving me problems since Google Sites was much more flexible & reliable. I used extra free time to improve my channel operations on the front & back ends by migrating my existing infrastructure to more reliable Google-supported platforms  & constant tested new online software & strategies to make the shift to limitation-free channel operations. The brunt of my shift to online-only took place mostly during the post-September 2020 part of the pandemic but may extend furt...

For this lift galore, we have broken it into 4 parts: Carpark & hydraulic (part 1), North tower (part 2), South tower (part 3) & Homestyle & Funny (part 4). Each of the 4 parts features the Hard Rock Hotel in Atlantic City. Carpark & Hydraulic For the carpark & hydraulic portion of the readcast, we will focus on the following lifts as well as noting differences between their design, build & run: Hydraulic lift , which is a standalone fully original OTIS Series 1 from 1991 which serves only the casino level & boardwalk upper bar deck level “CF” Old parking , which is a set of 4 modernised Schindler Haughton (now OTIS Series 2 from the 1990’s with sticky buttons & square brailles) which serve floors G & 1-11 New parking , which is a set of 6 modernised OTIS Series LX lifts (now OTIS Series 2 from the 1990’s with regular buttons & oval brailles) which serve floors G & 1-11 Hydraulic Lift This lift is a 1991 OTIS 211-LVM with colorful Series 1 ...

The DOVIS lift  Epic & awesome lift, which overshoots the floor on the top floor due to a bad positioning system. It needs readjustment. It has a rough ride quality due to the uneven acceleration & constant bouncing & vibrating going up & down & it plops into place when finished accelerating downward. This lift has extreme intelligent leveling & has a very weird flat Series 1 floor indicator. Only the internal buttons have been replaced since. This lift rates 4.4 stars on the GC Lift Character Report.  The Schindler lifts  Great lifts, which have tastefully modernised previous OTIS Elevonic 401 lifts from the 80s. These lifts are very fast as they travel 350' per minute & have noticeably jolty & quick startups & level very fast, as expected for a Schindler. One of the lifts had a misaligned door mechanism making it very uncomfortable to ride but it just added to the character. Another had a broken alarm & the third bounced while acc...

Macy's This Macy's location has a basic standard Schindler HXPress which in 2018 completely replaced a 2011 generic lift which replaced a 1965 OTIS with "Series LX". This lift scores 3.6 stars on the General Chicago Lift Character Report & has a wooden car. It has slightly jolty acceleration & leveling, but going down it's as smooth as a traction lift with barely noticeable stops. Nordstrom These lifts are beautiful Schindler American M-Series cars which replaced plain cars back in 2009. Originally installed in 1997 as high speed gearless traction units, typical for a Nordstrom, these boast the same configuration as the King of Prussia Mall in Upper Merion Township, PA & the Somerset Collection in MI & boast a high top speed of 310' per minute. These have very smooth but forceful acceleration & get up to speed in only 2 & a half seconds. These have very fast deceleration & leveling as well. The trip only takes under 10 seconds to ge...

It's no secret that the happiest lift filmers are the ones who craft their expectations & preparation in such a way that they respond exactly the same way to the best & worst case scenario as they respond to the middle case scenario. But how exactly does one manage to do that? By setting opposite expectations to how they prepared for the trip to go. Oh yes, my dear fellow beginner lift filmer. That's right! If you expect the worst to happen but you prepare a plan in case the best case scenario happens, then you have a recipe for neutral emotions at the end of your lift filming agenda regardless how said trip went. You won't necessarily feel happy , but you also won't feel sad, angry, frustrated, etc . You will feel perfectly neutral.   But what exactly is a best case scenario? A best case scenario is a situation where everything goes right.  This means little to no security, all lifts are easily accessible & in working condition & none of the floors on a...

1. Concourse at Beaver Brook  These lifts are very nice OTIS Series 1 glass hydros from the 80s with digital floor indicators on 211 LVM microprocessor controllers. These are goats. They break down often but they do have their quirks to them, e.g. intelligent leveling, jolty startups & speedy accelerated positioning systems. They are very fast for their rise & what they are as they travel around 135' per minute despite only going a few floors. 3.7 stars on the GC Lift Character Report.  2. Independence Building  Dover Impulse lift from the 80s with sticky buttons. This lift has a mirror front & travels a speed of 135' per minute just like the other one. 4.1 stars on the GC Lift Character Report due to its semi loud motor, jolty leveling & very quick startup & smooth stopping. This is the first non OTIS or GAL lift I found in Clinton Township.  3. Corbit Building  OTIS Series 1 from the 80s, but this time on a relay logic controller with analo...

August 4 Stamford, Connecticut from 10 PM - 11:45 PM August 6 Clinton Township from 9 AM - 11 AM followed by Short Hills from 12:30 PM to 2:30 PM August 7 Random lift galore in Northeastern NJ from 7:30 AM to 7:30 PM (50% likely) August 8 Hard Rock Atlantic City: 9:00 PM - 11:00 PM August 9 Atlantic City: 1:00 AM - 6:00 AM & 10:00 PM - 11:00 PM. More filming throughout the day if possible. August 10 Hard Rock Atlantic City: 5:00 AM - 7:00 AM August 12 King of Prussia: 10:00 AM - 6:00 PM. Fully dependent on quality of Atlantic City footage September 1 Kean University: 7:30 AM - 7:45 AM

Lift Galore FAQ    What is a trailer? A trailer is an introduction to the lift galores to follow. A trailer can be up to 3 minutes long & offers a brief glimpse of each lift which will be featured on a LIVE premiere. These trailers premiere 24 hours before said specific corresponding part of the lift galore premieres. Magisto is used to create this type of premiere. What is a lift galore? A lift galore is a lift tour premiere that is 3-15 minutes long. This is the basic lift galore showcasing all lifts filmed during a regular, single-day lift filming excursion where up to 10 lifts are filmed. A lift galore can be broken up into multiple parts if over 10 lifts were filmed during the same day or to conserve technological resources during editing. Clipchamp is used to create lift galore videos, with the Clipchamp watermark & 480 P  export quality (for now). What is an extended urbex lift galore? An extended urbex lift galore is a lift galore that is 15-30 minutes lo...

Always plan for the best case scenario  to happen. The best case scenario rarely happens , so it's best to have a theoretical plan of all the lifts you want to film should everything go right  (e.g. no security, all lifts unlocked, no turnstiles, no locked doors to get to lifts, etc.) While an overly optimistic move, it can be a good thing to have a back up plan in place everything goes right.  You won't be left wondering what to film during the best case scenario & you'll always be prepared no matter which case scenario happens.  To maintain a humble attitude during your lift filming trips, expect  the worst but prepare  for the best. Plan to create & edit content the second you get home from your trip or back to the hotel room. Pretty straightforward. Open your computer, open your video editing app, import all your pictures & videos from your phone, put your head down & grind until your time is up (save the project) or until you have your ...

For this lift galore, we have broken it into 2 parts: The corporate town (part 1) & the hotel town (part 2). The corporate town contains the following locations: Gateway Plaza (a high-rise office building) 400 Plaza Drive (a low-rise office building) The hotel town contains the following locations: Embassy Suites Holiday Inn Courtyard by Marriott (Bonus Clip) Corporate Town For the corporate town, we will mainly be focusing on two office buildings of differing heights with differing designs & different lifts: The Gateway Plaza , which is a standalone building on its own city block surrounded by a highway loop between Harmon Meadow Blvd & US-1 400 Plaza Drive , which is one of the conglomerate corporate office buildings on Plaza Drive in Secaaucus Gateway Plaza This building has a set of 3 epic & awesome DoverPayton relay-logic controlled lifts. This lift has tri-phase acceleration & triple-speed leveling & it provides a view of the highway & La Quinta Inn...

Car 1 D20 call station (Lower terminal) D20 car interior D20 buttons D20 FPI D20 down indicator D20 lights The first lift is a KONE orange D20 lift which was installed in 2013 when the shopping center was expanded. This lift travels 1.5 P & is a great lift due to how it jolts, clunks & glitches. I really like the way it has semi-classic leveling & pre-doors. This lift is very fast for the distance it serves & has a basic standard car interior. Overall, a great lift. Car 2 KSS 140 OOS Indicator KSS 140 Intermediate Call Station KSS 140 Landing KSS 140 Interior Fixtures KSS 140 Internal FPI This lift is located at the taller part of the car park terrace outside of Urban Outfitters on the second floor of the shopping center. It is a KONE KSS 140 which was also installed in 2013. This lift serves 5 floors & travels 1.5 P. It is an epic & awesome lift due to how it classic levels, jolts, screeches, clunks & makes several shaft noises going up & down. It provi...