Ahmad Al Morsy Reveals 5 Secrets About Kira & El Gin

DOP and director Ahmad Al Morsy has revealed several secrets about cinematography and the behind-the-scenes of ‘Kira & El Gin’ during El Gouna Photo Week, hosted by Photopia, Egypt's leading photography school, which was held in El Gouna from July 21st to July 23rd. The event hosted a variety of notable figures in the fields of photography, directing, and advertising who shared their ideas and experiences in workshops and panel discussions.

• Before beginning the real filming of ‘Kira & El Gin,’ Al Morsy did multiple shooting tests to identify the suitable type of camera, lenses, and lighting required. Then, he selected around 4-5 images formats for the night and day scenes before moving on to the coloring phase. 
• After reviewing the main layout of ‘Kira & El Gin,’ Al Morsy stated that the working process with director Marwan Hamed was all about giving him a vast room to work in.
• Al Morsy prefers to obtain the light, from both nature and artificial sources, since using both options, helps to give a three-dimensional feel, hence adding more enjoyment to the shot.
• Despite the fact that they may not last more than two minutes on screen, the sequences of capturing the sun's movement might take a day or two. Therefore, it was important to monitor the sun's movement in order to maintain the sequence that may last several days.
• During the filming and directing of the tourism marketing campaign titled 'Follow The Sun,' Al Morsy highlighted the movement of the sun and its significance, which depended on a contrast between the chilly weather of Europe in the winter and the warm weather of Egypt during the same season. He was determined to make the image sunny while examining all of the attractive touristic spots, and he used warm yellow tones to convey the condition of warmth.

For more than 20 years, DOP/Director Ahmad Al Morsy has been working in the filmmaking industry making more than 50 films and over 2000 TV ads as a DOP, and recently as a director. Throughout his career, Al Morsy won 22 national and international awards for his work. Currently, Al Morsy is a member of the Canadian Society of Cinematographers (CSC), in addition to the Australian Cinematographers Society (ACS) that granted him a total of 9 awards, since joining it in 2018.

His latest works as a DOP include the biggest production in the history of Arab cinema, Kira & El Gin, directed by Marwan Hamed, which was released in Egypt’s theaters and several other Arab countries. His most recent Action film Al Aref: Awdat Younis dominated the Egyptian box office in 2021, and for which Al Morsy received a fair share of critical acclaim for introducing unprecedented forms of actions to the Egyptian film industry. For his work in the hit film, Al Morsy won Best Cinematography Award at the 2022 Cairo Film Society Festival.