About Us
While we always strive to make our products as aesthetically pleasing as possible the guiding design principle is functionality which includes modularity. The second characteristic we follow is weight reduction up to the point that it does not compromise robustness.
Our collective backgrounds include design and innovation of many products for Steadicam, stabilized aerial platforms, high speed camera cars, deep water marine application, 3D photography and finally general use- first unit photography. We are also regular contributors of mechanical design solutions for groups like NASA's JPL and Lawrence Livermore National Labs.
With the introduction of the RED One we recognized a genuinely disruptive innovation in moving-image acquisition and have worked closely with RED to bring our light weight, bullet-proof solutions to the army of RED users. We have an open shop and have an almost daily parade of cameramen, operators, ACs and other crew members coming by to evaluate and test our products. We are working hard to create a demo/prep area where customers can learn about our products by building a demo configuration with their camera or ours. We are interested in showing the community what we are doing and why as well as continuing to learn how you are using the camera. If you have a need that is not being addressed by the currently available accessories then we would be interested in hearing about it.
Although Element Technica was only recently founded by Hector Ortega and Stephen Pizzo, their collaboration as a design, engineering and fabrication team started over a decade ago. They have worked together and individually to create many innovative products.
About the Founders
Hector along with his father Joseph Ortega were the founders of SL Cine, the company that helped create the thriving after-market camera accessory industry. Their Arri compatible light weight magazines have become standard issue for steadicam and other special application shooting. SL Cine also has their own line of deep-water housings for their SL Cine camera as well as the Arri 235. It was this housing that we used as the basis of the new RED deep-water housing.
Stephen Pizzo worked as a freelance camera assistant as well as design engineer for over 12 years before going to work at Wescam/Pictorvision. As an AC he was constantly faced with the task of integrating cameras, lenses and AKS from Panavision, Arri, Angenieux, etc. for a variety of features, commercials, and large format projects. As a design engineer he worked on many different projects ranging from the creation of 65mm cameras to 3D platforms to tools for general photography. At Wescam/Pictorvision Stephen was responsible for the electro-mechanical integration of the different cameras and lenses available at any given time into the company's various stabilized gimbals
Ever since MiniDV and desktop NLE's hit the market, there has been talk of the democratization of filmmaking. We recognize that RED will be remembered as the most significant catalyst of this movement. Our goal is to use our 35 years combined experience to create professional quality, reasonably priced accessories for this new army of filmmakers. We want to make it possible for a RED to be slipped into the professional on-set workflow where formats and hardware are often mixed.