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Taking the plunge (financial and otherwise)


Nick Campbell

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  • 1 month later...

An update:

 

I've been working pretty consistently since moving down. Did a long day as 2nd unit on an indie set yesterday, a few days of commercial work before that, and a major network gig tomorrow. Very excited and everyday is a new learning opportunity. It feels so nice to be able to do sound work everyday and make a living, as the opportunities for good paid work weren't as frequent in my old area.

 

I've been meeting tons of people, having great conversations, working hard, and my sound work is improving everyday. The weather is awesome and I'm eating burritos everyday. I'm very happy I moved. Thanks again for all of the insights, information, and advice, guys, I hope to meet some of you soon!

 

I just got some business cards made (the rear card image is a photo I saw Jeff posted on here). http://i.imgur.com/OmIBOYf.jpg

 

And if anyone needs a boom op or utility, I'd love to work with more experienced mixers. I work hard and don't complain!

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Which is better.....a Taco Bell Burrito (my daughter calls it Toxic Hell), or a Subway Tuna sandwich?

Burrito will make you very popular on set!

The burritos have been from my neighborhood (yeah N Hollywood!).

Luckily I've only had one Subway-type gig and they just didn't provide any food.

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  • 1 month later...

Headed there tomorrow, thanks for the tip!

I haven't had a day off in awhile, and about to work straight until Sept 8. Lots of mixing, and almost two weeks as a boom op coming up.

Goddamn I've been to Location Sound the last four out of four days. Dave there rules and is super nice.

I'm so excited I moved and its all starting to work out. Thanks again guys, the knowledge I've learned on this forum has proven so valuable.

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@nick: congrats on the move and on the success!

 

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regarding the luck vs work thing - Its really just semantics, but I like arguing semantics.  :)

 

I think everyone except for henchman is arguing that luck and work are not mutually exclusive. 

 

If you substitute "random chance" for "luck" you shouldn't change the argument any.  Hench, I don't know if you're arguing that your career path was not in any way affected by random chance, but if you are I'd guess you've never seriously played a sport like golf or poker or baseball.  You're probably more of a chess or a tennis or a boxing fan.  :)

 

In golf/poker/baseball the better player will indeed win out over the lesser player over the long run, but in the short run the luck factor can truly break the weaker player's way far enough that they can win one or even several matches against a better player.  The thing that most people can't intuitively grok is the fact that the short run actually can last a very long while if conditions are even enough. 

 

Poker is especially illustrative of this - very good players can go on very unlucky or very lucky streaks for hundreds of thousands of hands - this is especially true if they are playing against opposition that is near them in skill level.  At the same time, luck shakes out into skill differential much more quickly if player A is dramatically better at the game than player B.

 

Luck also manifests itself in non-obvious ways.  Again - poker can illustrate: If I catch two pair vs you and you catch nothing, then I both got unlucky and won the pot simultaneously.  (DUCY?)

 

---

 

conversely, chess is a game that truly has zero luck involved.  Every factor is known in advance: the pieces on the board, the pieces available to each player, the moves available to each player, etc.  There is no hidden information, and there is no physical real world interaction with the pieces that affects the outcome of the game.  (eg: wind and uneven surfaces in golf/baseball)

 

Based on a few moves worth of analysis, player A can be confidently ranked above or below player B, and that ranking will accurately predict the winner of any given match between players A and B almost every time.  at the higher levels of chess, it will be every time.  Even minor seperations in skill levels can cause one player to lose 100% of chess matches against superior opposition.

 

that's why no one bets money on chess.   its too obvious who will win, and luck can never swing the outcome the "wrong" way.

 

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to come back full circle, I'm assuming that Hench is arguing that life is more like chess (feel free to correct me if I'm wrong there) and I'd argue that life is more like poker. 

 

In fact, given the emphatic nature of Hench's statements he may be arguing that life is chess - and that effort and skillset alone predetermine success or failure. 

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so is your argument that random acts of chance can always be overcome with perserverance, personality and skill?

 

As much as we'd like to believe that, I don't think its exactly the way things work. 

 

We need to have you on our podcast sometime to hash this out.  ;)

Making sure you put yourself in the right place to take advantage of opportunities that arise has nothing to do with chance.

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Well, there is the debate over the concept of luck itself. Some would say there is no luck, only predetermination.

But perhaps that's a different discussion.

But, rcoronado, with your sports examples you said it too, didn't you: in the end skill always wins.

Or to quote the Guinness ad: "Good things come to those who wait".

Personally, I still think there is always a lot of luck involved

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