Juan Carlos Oganes' film-making and work blog.

Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Gloria del Pacifico's avant premiere

Finally, the day has come!

Have to admit that I was truly stressed out and nervous thinking that -because of the last minute cancelling of the prior venue where this was supposed to take place (discarding the already printed ones and not having enough time to print formal invitations with the new place in it)- the press and media wouldn't show up and that other stuff wouldn't be right. But they did and it all went fine!

Can't believe the amount of people that showed up and how much love was shown toward the film.

At the end of the film I was expecting hand shakes but not a near ten-minute ovation! I had to hold back my tears but saw many many really crying and realizing how much it touched their hearts. I truly wasn't expecting such  reception. I worked hard to really touch people's hearts with my film but not to this dimension. I glanced beholding all around me and trying my best to capture all in my mind...forever. Many renown actors showed up and some were truly legends who spoke wonders after the event. Seeing my family together after a long time with tears in their eyes also was just something that will stay here inside until I'm gone.

After it...it all went wild. The press, the media, the whole thing.

I have to truly thank the Lord above for giving me this chance, this gift of touching hearts thru film. Of giving a message to the world thru film. Of being able to succeed after many many years of hurdles and setbacks. The Lord aove knows how much pain has been accompanyin me all these years and this is in a way perhaps a way of Him saying: "You've been thru enough".

I'll try my best not to fuck it up again, Lord.

A big "thank you" to all my cast and crew for believing in me and tag along all these years of work and sweat. Without you, this would have been harder than it was.

I love you all!!!

The big ovation.

Prior words....


Words to the audience.

Posing for the press.
Thank you, Lord. Thank you!






And the story goes on....


Thursday, October 30, 2014

Last minute hurdles!!

Crap!! Today Thursday 30th and I've been told that the auditorium where I planned to do the avant premiere isn't available anymore!!

More than a month of negotiations and being practically confirmed and I'm told now last-minute that it won't be given for the event. Mad as hell. This is the most disrespectful and unpolite way to act.

Now I have to look for another venue for the event.


5 days left 'till the avant premiere and 6 days 'till the national premiere of Gloria del Pacífico and this things have to happen.

No time to waste.

UPDATE: Found now a new place that is very adequate for the avant premiere: the Biblioteca Nacional's auditorium! Beautiful cozy place and above all...very friendly. Has no proper projector and projection screen so...off to get me both!

The auditorium for the avant premiere.

Wednesday, October 8, 2014

First official movie trailer for Gloria del Pacifico

So, after making a bit of room in this tight schedule to deliver the film on time for the premiere on November 6, I edited the first official trailer for Gloria del Pacífico. For many close friends and acquaintances, I showed around a first teaser/trailer since first half of 2011 and to them some footage here will be familiar, but this time I spliced in some newer stuff.

The second official trailer will be released close to the premiere. Probably by the end of October.

6:58am and I finally finished it and posted it here.

Now back to work. Think I'll just keep on going straight without sleep. Not tired yet.

VERY excited to release to the wide world the first trailer!!




GLORIA DEL PACIFICO Trailer Oficial from Juan Carlos Oganes on Vimeo.

Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Interviews at Capital TV

And the premiere dat is getting closer. Just a bit less than a month away and october will be dedicated to market the film in all media. Had some interviews at Capital TV, the tv branch that Radio Capital is venturing to. Got interviewed by Mariella Patriau and Phillip Butters.

I'm rushing here with last deatils about the film and polishing all last special effects and compositing. Then to mix the music and audio together with the Foley process....and then it's good to show to the world!

So far I'm sleeping little and working non-stop!



Monday, September 8, 2014

The final countdown

September's original plan for the film's premiere had to be moved to November. Finally the date is set and we are now in the home stretch. The final countdown for Gloria del Pacifico has began!!

Still putting it all together, splicing and cutting out redundant footage or scenes that can be spared (for just the film version but the TV series one) without losing the content's ability to be understood.

I look at it now and has a faster, more hip pace. Perfect for a film, even though it is hard to cut a 5-hour project down to less than 110 minutes. Feels like I'm throwing away important info but have to be aware of nowadays audience impatience and on the other side their lack of knowledge about History. So, have to put it snappy but understandable.

Got myself a new pair of monitor speakers. This time I chose one of my favorite audio brands: Behringer. The "Truth" speaker series are awesome sounding and have such a powerful sonic output. The different locations deliver different types of audio quality. The rumble heard in the boom's mic and also in the lavaliers were a problem but is something a low-pass EQ filter managed well. Had to treat the editing room with more acoustic foam now that the sound editing and mixing stage has began. Using my fav plugins from Waves (been a fan since their release of the Renaissance Compressor back in 1997) and Izotope's RX3 for repairing and cleaning is such a pleasure to work with. These companies should earn an Oscar for such a contribution to the film industry.

Micky is working hard on the music score and dropped by the studio to listen the rough track a couple week's ago and its very touching. Very moving.

If God grants me the chance, I'll be able to also do "displays" for the film. Only several theaters are able to place them in the hallways. Permit laws put restrains in the size so they don's get in the way or obstruct free transit in case of emergencies.

God....I thank you for all these. Even under extreme stress and with hurdles from envious people, you are making your will here.

Tic tac.....the clock is ticking!!



Checking for Display maximum size

The posters

Cinemark is on board also

The music score. Very moving.

Friday, August 1, 2014

Gloria del Pacífico website finally released!

Today is a great day.

After many months in the making, the official site for Gloria del Pacífico is released to the public!
Tried my best to make it snappy, sharp, didactic, entertaining and aesthetic, showing many general aspects of the war that is covered in the film.

I thank the guys at Heedcom for developing it and standing my monkey-on-your-back stance to have designs be this or that way to fulfill a personal vision. Like I always say: Bothersome things pass....but the deeds remain.

Proud of the results!

Please visit www.gloriadelpacifico.com

I'll thank you from the bottom of my heart :)

Welcome screen for the Gloria del Pacifico film's website
The guys at Heedcom

Working on the website's design some months ago.

Friday, July 25, 2014

UTP University Seminar

Interesting Seminar given at the UTP University (Universidad Tecnológica del Perú) this friday. Was nice to share it with actor Carlos Vertiz (who portrays Col. Francisco Bolognesi in the film) and production assistant Eyner Callupe.

The intimacy in which it was conducted allowed us to not only share in a more personal way the ins and outs, the hurdles and the who experience of making such a movie, but the alumni inquires and questions.

My humble blessing to my friends and film extras who attended the event. Their public recognition was necessary. The applause is for you!

I thank UTP and all involved in allowing this event to happen and for their invitation. :)










Monday, June 9, 2014

San Marcos university: Seminar at the Education faculty

University of San Marcos once again. This time for the Education faculty. Shared the seminar with similar expositors very much knowledgeable about the Pacific War (Guerra del Pacífico). Once agian, it's good to share knowledge, history and also talk about the film with alumni....the future of our country.


Always good to share a seminar with knowledgeable people.






The future of our country. To know History is a must.

Thursday, May 15, 2014

Storytelling: seminar in Piura

Piura: land of carob tress and mesquites, heat and semi-arid lands and also home town of one of our greatest national heros: Miguel Grau.

Invited by the University of Piura, gave a seminar about the war and about Gloria del Pacifico for its students and alumni this week in an event called "Storytelling: Stories worth being told" Protocol schedules were a bit varied and busy but all in all, exchanging and sharing experiences with young people is enriching.

Many from the audience will eventually become somebody in the business in the future and being a part of that is rewarding. You can tell from among the alumni who have the chops to do it, the curious ones, the ones interested in deeper topics about the field, the ones that have a broader picture of things without losing the details. Much enthusiasm is needed as a catalyst to do stuff here but experience and knowledge is the key. Told them that an "Initial spark and dreams is what everybody has....the chops and know-how not everybody....and that's what makes the difference between a professional work and an amateur intent."

Thank you Piura. Will be back soon to enjoy more of the city and surrouding beautiful areas. This time it was just work-hotel-airport.

Duty calls...

















Wednesday, April 30, 2014

4K: the next big thing

These weeks, while in the post-production process, was thinking again what has been in my mind for some time now: buying another higher-end camera.

As people can see, I used the amazing Panasonic HVX-200 together with the superb Letus Extreme to give it the best 35mm depth-of-field on the market. I bought them both back in 2008. I take great pride in having made the best selections when researching for a good film/video camera. Back in the late 90's it was the awesome Canon XL-1 and its subsequent revisions. I saw potential in a camera that had interchangeable lens capability and it opened a whole new door to me production and visual wise. It was still SD but, hey...it was the 90's. Early 2000s and I remember HD started to show its head. It was something we all filmmakers pointed at for superior quality. I don't remember what HD camera came out first, just that it was around 2002 that I read in an article. It used one CCD or something as it stated. I think it was JVC or Sharp and used the newly developed HDV compression format for use with DV tapes already used massively by all of us back then. In my case, I eye-balled it extensively but wasn't liking much the compression ratio HDV used. We all who did a lot of post and know how much a pain in the butt it was with the DV codec (difficult chroma-keying, blocky edges, moire patterns and pixelated squares when doing extreme color-correction), having further compression than DV and reading about the lack of intraframe qualities.....it was simply a huge thing to avoid for me. Thank God I never jumped the HDV wagon and the many disappointed users was my best proof. I simply waited for the best camera and compression scheme yet to come. Enter the HVX-200.

It came out in 2005 and bought it in 2008 when the A upgrade was released. Its ability to shoot many frame rates as a film camera and the DVCPROHD codec at 100 Mbps (4 times the DV data rate) simply was a no-brainer for me. I was bought. In addition, it used intra-frame compression so no artifacts in fast motion and beautiful chroma-key was finally possible, a big thing for me because of its 4:2:2 chroma sampling. More information to work in post without worries.

Now, after 6 years of filming videoclips, a commercial, TV pilots, some short films and the feature Gloria del Pacifico, pushing the camera to the limit with all its battle scenes and extreme weather conditions, I'm finally ready to move on to the next level and what is now a necessity to be up to today's standards: 4K cinematography.

Been checking around the new options lately and a few months back I was about to go for the HD capable DSLR camera, the Canon 5Dm-III because of its unbelievable low-light sensitivity, a necessity I do have when shooting outdoors in the desert at night or in a dark 19th century town street. Wasn't too crazy about its small size (although, the HVX200 together with the Letus Extreme and all accessories makes all weigh around 25 lbs.) and the DSLR would be lighter. But still, not much sound control, etc. Then, I learned about the BlackMagic 4K Prodcution Camera. Was checking it out a couple months ago and compared to other stuff around, was beggining to like it because of the brand (BlackMagic DOES make awesome equipment, with super quality at unbeatable prices. Being the camera at nearly 3 grand, it was a sure contender. The specs were amazing. Only drawback was the reviews about it's lack of low-light sensitivity (a true sad thing for me) and that it was an energy hog....lasting only a few hours and having an internal battery. Id have to stop filming I guess, and charge it in order to be able to keep shooting. I just couldn't picture myself in the middle of the desert, filming, running out of time as the sun slowly disappeared in the horizon and me.....still charging the darn thing. No. Simply no.

Now, at this years NAB, the new BlackMagic 4K URSA is unleashed. I see that it not only has ALL the specs of a true film/video camera like XLR connectors, but also a huge 10-inch monitor and 2 other side screens also (handy for camera assistants and crew members) and a true feel of a big pro camera. Battery has more life and also can use Anton Bauer ones. Many models were released and the one with the EF mount at $5,995 is simply awesome and available by July this year. The Ursa records in 12-bit lossless compressed Cinema DNG raw and ProRes formats, and dual CFast 2.0 card recorders are built in. Having also a global shutter image sensor is such a plus (no more skew or jello-effect) and a true winner fact: it can be upgraded by the user if a new and improved sensor design becomes available in the future and that it would be a breeze to change it yourself. I guess I read somewhere that you would only need an Allen wrench.


I wonder if the sensor is the same as the prior 4K Production Camera. It would be a sad thing to be so....the low-light sensitivity is truly a downside for me as renting lights or even powering them up in the middle of the desert for the next film's battle scenes would be such an expensive task.

Let's see what the future holds. This camera seems to be the winner for me so far. I'm really not excited about the RED (too expensive, too many accessories that skyrocket the price tag well above 30K) so let's see what are the reviews for it when its finally released.

4K...... 4K....

Blackmagic Design launched two new camera lines at NAB this week—the Blackmagic Studio Camera with an MFT lens mount and a 10-inch viewfinder on the back, facing the operator, which is available in HD ($1,995) and 4K ($2,995) versions, and the 4K Blackmagic Ursa, which features a similarly distinctive 10-inch fold-out monitor as well as a second, five-inch screen for scopes, settings, and status views. The Ursa is slated to ship in EF- ($5,995) and PL-mount ($6,495) versions in June or July, and in a B4 (price TBD) lens-mount version later this year.
Blackmagic CEO Grant Petty said the design of the Ursa was inspired by seeing the way many owners tricked out their Blackmagic Cinema Cameras with rails and accesories that gave it a larger form factor that made more sense for production crews. "This camera is the center of a multi-person workflow," he said, with different "zones" for the DP, for the assistant, and for audio. The new design also allows efficient cooling to enable higher frame rates (up to 60p in HD and Ultra HD).
The Ursa records in 12-bit lossless compressed Cinema DNG raw and ProRes formats, and dual CFast 2.0 card recorders are built in. It also has a global shutter image sensor that can be upgraded by the user if a new and improved sensor design becomes available. We were told by Blackmagic's Bob Caniglia that all that is required is an Allen wrench.
Blackmagic is so confident this design is a winner that the Ursa will be available in a unique "HDMI" configuration ($4,495) with no sensor at all. The lens mount is replaced by a cheese plate and a HDMI input, allowing another camera (a DSLR, for example) to be wired into the URSA and take advantage of the body design.
- See more at: http://www.studiodaily.com/2014/04/blackmagic-announces-new-4k-ursa-studio-cameras/#sthash.Gt1XenyK.dpuf
Blackmagic Design launched two new camera lines at NAB this week—the Blackmagic Studio Camera with an MFT lens mount and a 10-inch viewfinder on the back, facing the operator, which is available in HD ($1,995) and 4K ($2,995) versions, and the 4K Blackmagic Ursa, which features a similarly distinctive 10-inch fold-out monitor as well as a second, five-inch screen for scopes, settings, and status views. The Ursa is slated to ship in EF- ($5,995) and PL-mount ($6,495) versions in June or July, and in a B4 (price TBD) lens-mount version later this year.
Blackmagic CEO Grant Petty said the design of the Ursa was inspired by seeing the way many owners tricked out their Blackmagic Cinema Cameras with rails and accesories that gave it a larger form factor that made more sense for production crews. "This camera is the center of a multi-person workflow," he said, with different "zones" for the DP, for the assistant, and for audio. The new design also allows efficient cooling to enable higher frame rates (up to 60p in HD and Ultra HD).
The Ursa records in 12-bit lossless compressed Cinema DNG raw and ProRes formats, and dual CFast 2.0 card recorders are built in. It also has a global shutter image sensor that can be upgraded by the user if a new and improved sensor design becomes available. We were told by Blackmagic's Bob Caniglia that all that is required is an Allen wrench.
Blackmagic is so confident this design is a winner that the Ursa will be available in a unique "HDMI" configuration ($4,495) with no sensor at all. The lens mount is replaced by a cheese plate and a HDMI input, allowing another camera (a DSLR, for example) to be wired into the URSA and take advantage of the body design.

The Studio Camera is built in a magnesium alloy body with a four-hour battery, mic connections with phantom power, and bidirectional optical fiber and SDI connections for connecting to a live production switcher. The HD version is shipping now and the 4K version is scheduled for June delivery.
- See more at: http://www.studiodaily.com/2014/04/blackmagic-announces-new-4k-ursa-studio-cameras/#sthash.Gt1XenyK.dpuf
Blackmagic Design launched two new camera lines at NAB this week—the Blackmagic Studio Camera with an MFT lens mount and a 10-inch viewfinder on the back, facing the operator, which is available in HD ($1,995) and 4K ($2,995) versions, and the 4K Blackmagic Ursa, which features a similarly distinctive 10-inch fold-out monitor as well as a second, five-inch screen for scopes, settings, and status views. The Ursa is slated to ship in EF- ($5,995) and PL-mount ($6,495) versions in June or July, and in a B4 (price TBD) lens-mount version later this year.
Blackmagic CEO Grant Petty said the design of the Ursa was inspired by seeing the way many owners tricked out their Blackmagic Cinema Cameras with rails and accesories that gave it a larger form factor that made more sense for production crews. "This camera is the center of a multi-person workflow," he said, with different "zones" for the DP, for the assistant, and for audio. The new design also allows efficient cooling to enable higher frame rates (up to 60p in HD and Ultra HD).
The Ursa records in 12-bit lossless compressed Cinema DNG raw and ProRes formats, and dual CFast 2.0 card recorders are built in. It also has a global shutter image sensor that can be upgraded by the user if a new and improved sensor design becomes available. We were told by Blackmagic's Bob Caniglia that all that is required is an Allen wrench.
Blackmagic is so confident this design is a winner that the Ursa will be available in a unique "HDMI" configuration ($4,495) with no sensor at all. The lens mount is replaced by a cheese plate and a HDMI input, allowing another camera (a DSLR, for example) to be wired into the URSA and take advantage of the body design.

The Studio Camera is built in a magnesium alloy body with a four-hour battery, mic connections with phantom power, and bidirectional optical fiber and SDI connections for connecting to a live production switcher. The HD version is shipping now and the 4K version is scheduled for June delivery.
- See more at: http://www.studiodaily.com/2014/04/blackmagic-announces-new-4k-ursa-studio-cameras/#sthash.Gt1XenyK.dpuf

Thursday, April 10, 2014

Another seminar at San Marcos

And invitations keep on coming. Because of my interviews on TV and news media, I'm being asked to many places here in Lima and provinces to talk about the Pacific War and the film. Others request also seminars and workshops for their students if its a university.

Was invited to participate in a small conference at San Marcos university for the alumni of the History and Social Sciences career. The name in spanish is "New Ways to make History". Love to explain to students how important History is and show them how we see it from outside their campus., how valued it is and how important and vital it is to keep it alive. A country without history is a country without culture, and in a way, the film is a voice to those who are behind closed doors making research and to those who spend their lives between bookshelves and corridors. After it, some other proposals came. Let's see what happens. Like I told them, I'm in a way a frustrated historian and would have also loved to study it but, anyway, I read and research a lot about it so I'm following their path basically.

Its always good to be able to talk to alumni of this wonderful career and answer their inquires.

Apart from that, days before the event, I had a surprise call from someone I wasn't even expecting from: a descendant from a war hero in Arica: A direct descendant from Marcelino Varela. It was such a nice gesture from him to be able to to attend the seminar and talk afterwards about his ancestor. He was quite excited to see footage of the film where his great grandfather fought in.





With the organizers. Thank you guys.


With the great grandson of Marcelino Varela.



Signing of Pacific War books. One on the way.