By Eduard Schneider
First of all, I'm a creator. I’ve loved creating all kinds of different stuff ever since I was a kid. We have the power of free will and the power to create and that is what makes us different from the instinct-driven animals of the world. I consider it a waste to live your life working a 9-to-5 job with 3 weeks of vacation per year just to pay the bills and mortgage.
It’s sad not to enjoy your passions and it’s pathetic to say, "I'm bored and I don't know what to do." Boredom is a notion I don't understand. I consider it an insult to the higher power that made us human beings. I consider myself one of the lucky ones not only because I have passions, but also because I can make a living from them. Turning a hobby into a full-time job and enjoying it as much as I do is a blessing.
As my friend Stuart McBratney often says, “We live in amazing times and I definitely wouldn't have chosen this path in life 10 years ago because it was simply out of reach. I didn't go to film school and my parents are not rich enough to pay for their spoiled son to rent cinematic equipment for experimenting.”
The price of the state-of-the-art technology we have at our fingertips today is amazing. Only a couple of years ago, if you wanted to achieve a "film look" you had to rent tons of equipment. Owning your own equipment was out of the question unless you were a big production company or a millionaire. Just like the internet brought the power of knowledge and information to the masses, HDSLR technology made cinematography available to regular people like me. Now anyone can achieve a shallow depth of field, 24p cinema frame rate and shoot with available light under almost any condition. Plus, the gear is ridiculously light, easy to use and post production workflow on any home or even laptop computer is a breeze. Before, all of these factors would have involved considerable budgets to achieve almost the same results.
Today, it’s easy to instantly publish your creation on the internet and it doesn’t cost you a thing. In the end, no matter what kind of equipment you have, what you really need are ideas for content and the skills to shape it. The live feedback and interaction from people who like or dislike your work is instantly available to you. You can also see the exact figures of how many people have viewed it and from which part of the world.
Of course, that also means a flood of rubbish content but hey, that’s the freedom to choose and like or dislike. My point is that money is no longer the barrier for creating great audiovisual content at high production value and I think that is great.
The camera accessories industry has quickly evolved to follow this trend and this allows people not only to run around with cinematic photo-cameras but also gives their projects the feel, look and functions of a professional cinema camera. I mean baseplates, rods, follow-foci, matte boxes, monitors, shoulder pads, everything.
It may be my own personal opinion, but I think this is the factor that makes the difference between hobby enthusiasts and professionals. I chose to go pro and for me the only camera accessories choice is Zacuto. I think it’s obvious why but you can judge for yourself. Owning the equipment gives me the freedom, mobility and power to create visual content anytime, anywhere. That's why I'm proud to be an independent filmmaker and that’s why I enjoy this amazing time we’re living in so much.
Eduard Schneider was born in Sebes, Romania but was raised in Hamburg, Germany since the age of 13. From 1995-1996, Schneider worked as an Operator at SGS Thomson Microelectronics Grenoble in France. Later on in 1996, Schneider returned to Romania where he founded Schneider Productions SRL where he aimed to turn his teenage passion into a full-time job as a self-taught person. Since 1997 he has served as a producer for over 60 albums for major Romanian record labels. Since 2004, Schneider has served as executive producer of over 100 music videos, commercials, short films and documentaries. Schneider is married with one 8-year-old child. He holds German, French and Romanian citizenship. You can check out more of his work at www.schneiderproductions.com. 
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