The imprint of Andrew McKenzie, the famous battle designer, appears in a number of dramas that are shown throughout the month of Ramadan, most notably The Imam’s Message to the star Khaled Al Nabawi and the third part of Al-Maddah starring Hamada Helal, as well as Under the tutelage of the artist Mona Zaki.
Mackenzie is considered one of the most famous battle designers in Egyptian cinema and series, as he implemented action scenes in many works of art that were received by the audience with admiration and amazement, such as Al-Jazeera, the Blue Elephant, Al-Maslah, Al-Spider, Forced Escape, Kaira, Jinn, Metaphysics, Counterattack, and Al-Nimr.
Mackenzie revealed to “Sky News Arabia” the scenes of the most difficult scenes depicted in the Ramadan artworks and the most prominent challenges that his team faced during the design and filming of these difficult shots, and how to select appropriate movement scenes for each work, whether historical or contemporary, in addition to the atmosphere of cooperation with distinguished directors such as Ahmed Samir Farag and Mohamed Shaker Khudair
The South African combat designer told Sky News Arabia: “This year we are witnessing a new boom in the manufacture of (action) scenes, as everyone realized after the success of the movie (Kira Wal Jinn) directed by Marwan Hamed that we have the ability to present a very advanced level in Motion shots, especially those related to ancient times
McKenzie added: “In the imam’s message, we went through a difficult experience to show horse battles in an attractive way, and it took a lot of effort and long hours of work to get the best result, and we were keen to design smart combat confrontations with the camera moving smoothly to make the scenes more credible.”
The crisis of horses and riders
About the challenges and difficulties he faced, Mackenzie said: “We faced a great challenge in the imam’s message because there were not enough horses and riders trained for action scenes. Everyone had to go through intensive exercises with high accuracy, and also work with extreme caution to protect the actors while filming the scenes in front of the cameras.” “.
And the battle designer explained: “I enjoyed working with the star Khaled Al-Nabawi. There is a great understanding between us and mutual trust due to the participation together in many works during the past years. He is a wonderful actor and has a very wise approach to performing action scenes, and he reaps the fruits of this through his continuous achievements.” ..
praise accident
In the new part of the Al-Maddah series, Mackenzie went through a different experience, confirming that the major car accident in the third episode of the work events is one of the scenes that he does not forget, noting that the experiment took place in the city of Beirut amid difficult circumstances and ended with an incredible result, as he described it.
McKenzie continued, saying: “There was a strong desire from everyone to show the best shots, especially the director Ahmed Samir Farag. We made several series together in the past, and that helped us quickly reach what we wanted to achieve. I was also pleased with the huge effort made by Hamada Helal and Abdel Aziz Makhyoun.” “.
The audience is waiting for the show of the series “Under the Guardianship” by the artist, Mona Zaki, during the second half of the holy month of Ramadan, as there was a lot of speculation about it after the broadcast of the teaser for the work, as well as the appearance of the official poster for it, and the atmosphere surrounding the heroine, who is having a special experience in the crashing waves.
Regarding this work, Mackenzie said: “We always find it difficult to film scenes on a boat in the sea. It takes 3 times the usual work to get what we need due to facing many unstable factors that must be dealt with patiently and wisely.”
The battle designer concluded his interview with Sky News Arabia, saying: “I have known Mona Zaki since 2006, she is a wonderful actress and has never been afraid to play the role required of her during the events (under guardianship). In the best possible way, I look forward to showing it in the second half of Ramadan and getting to know the audience’s opinions