Behind the Scenes on September 5
Summer 1972 marked just the second time the Olympics were televised live across the globe. Little did anyone anticipate the unspeakable incident that what would unfold in Germany before the live cameras. During what we now call the Munich Massacre, terrorists from the Black September group broke into the Olympic village, taking multiple athletes hostage, with no one prepared for how the next 24 hours would unfold.
Undertaking this grim thriller director Tim Fehlbaum approached the story with cinematographer Markus F rderer, ASC, BVK. The filmmakers explore the events of September 1972 through the perspective of the ABC Sports News team who documented the unfolding tragedy live. An allegory for modern media's sometimes ethically ambiguous or sometimes downright detrimental effect on events, the film authentically recreates the chilling episode. In addition to shooting at historically preserved locations on a variety of formats from 16mm film to Red V-Raptor, F rderer relied on Astera to realize some of the film's trickiest lighting environments, especially ABC TV's 1970s era Munich studio.
Early in preproduction the decision was made to recreate as much of the historic event leading up to the September 5, 1972 terrorist attack as possible. Out of respect to the hostages, we decided not to use any actual footage of them, explains F rderer. (One notable exception however is the unforgettable journalism of TV host Jim McKay whose real-life telecast is retained from the actual broadcasts.) The cinematographer painstakingly reviewed original photographs and historical videos, critically studying the lighting. I take it as a compliment that many audiences cannot differentiate what is original footage from the actual archival materials, he adds.
At the heart of the ABC Munich studio was the control room which featured a wall of video screens displaying feeds from multiple cameras. My initial concept lighting-wise was inspired by that look of old CRT TV's which always flicker a bit as a light source. I decided to focus on this light flicker, F rderer explains. The production built a recreation of the ABC Control Room at Bavaria Studios, where the cinematographer would have complete control illuminating this core environment. We talked to people who used to work in the TV studio back in the day and from that decided to employ a fluorescent tube look.
There's a tactile and instantly recognizable quality to 1960-'70s fluorescents. But real fluorescent tubes are unreliable and don't offer the same versatile control as a modern LED, says F rderer. With a shooting schedule of 27 days, using original fluorescents would have been prohibitively time-consuming. F rderer's solution: Astera Tubes, fit into '70s housings. Comprised of 8 pixels which can be individually colored, flashed and programmed from the AsteraApp, the baton-shaped LED light was a highly controllable, look-a-like replacement for unpredictable fluorescents.
If you remember old fluorescent tubes, they are never perfect the ends tend to flicker. Since Astera tubes have 8 pixels, I knew we could program them to make the ends flicker that same way on set, says F rderer. Before prep for September 5 began, the cinematographer enlisted the help of lighting specialist, photographer, and his spouse Julie F rderer to create the effect. While working together on another show, the F rderers spent each weekend with a dimmer board and an Astera tube at their hotel, testing how far they could take a flickering effect. We could test different flicker frequencies and pre-program different colors to imitate that dirty green warmth of old lights. Thanks to this, when I arrived in Munich for this film, we could go into the sets which had already been rigged by my gaffer Uwe Greiner and his team based on our lighting plans and pick and choose from our effects to give each room its own character.
The filmmakers took this flicker approach beyond fluorescent look-a-likes, employing a variation to light the small edit room where the ABC producers would watch developed film on a Steenbeck flatbed editor. We had a real Steenbeck and we set an Astera HydraPanel a 25W LED fixture with 6 mappable RGBMA pixels equipped with a DoPchoice Snapbag, inside the Steenbeck to create a flickering light effect for the editing machine. F rderer's team used the same programming tricks on the HydraPanel. When working with a Steenbeck, it flickers a lot at first then becomes more stable as the film gets up to speed. We set the HydraPanel to change from 25Hz to 50Hz mimicking the effect. The lighting adds breathless tension to scenes where, just like the ABC reporters in the room, the viewer waits for what a new film reel will reveal.
These days, every light is in some ways a computer, says F rderer. But you need the time and the expertise of a great board operator to creatively program and make the most of your lights. September 5 owes its meticulous lighting to the ingenuity of the F rderers as well as the on set lighting technicians run by gaffer Greiner and board operator Matthias Linke. I wanted to give maximum freedom to our actors and cameras to move freely through the sets. Everything had to be lit in a way that enabled us to shoot 360 . The decision to employ Astera lights literally everywhere allowed us this flexibility and the speed to react creatively with the lighting to the needs of each scene. We could simply copy paste preprogrammed colors and effects to any lighting fixture and the light would always match.
Diligent creativity and Astera lights in nearly every scene helped recreate the chaos of the 1972 terrorist attack. Throughout the movie we only see what the journalists could see, concludes F rderer. We never take the perspective of the hostages. That&#
North America Stories
27/03/2026
Orban Collaborates with Sage on Virtualized EAS Technology Demo
Brie Clayton March 26, 2026
0 Comments
Sage Alerting Systems (SAS), in cooperation wit...
27/03/2026
Berklee Alums Bring GIANT to Broadway Brian and Dayna Lee BM '13 met and fell in love at Berklee, and now their production companys first Broadway debut i...
26/03/2026
Extron and Audio-Technica have announced that their Design Solutions devices, Ce...
26/03/2026
SPORTEL Asia took place March 24-25 at the Orchard Hotel Singapore, drawing 370 participants representing more than 220 companies from 35 countries. Approximate...
26/03/2026
LTN will demonstrate satellite-to-IP migration solutions for broadcasters, cable networks, MVPDs, and station groups at NAB Show 2026 (Booth W2100).
The C-Ban...
26/03/2026
The Seattle Mariners have partnered with Daktronics to install an upgraded outfi...
26/03/2026
The Esports Foundation (EF) has awarded National Team Partner status to organizations and individuals across more than 100 countries and territories for the Esp...
26/03/2026
Telestream has announced expanded integration between its Vantage workflow platf...
26/03/2026
FOR-A Corporation has announced a partnership with Nippon TV and NVIDIA to distr...
26/03/2026
CBS Sports and the WNBA have expanded their partnership through a new long-term, multiplatform rights agreement. CBS Sports will feature up to 20 regular-season...
26/03/2026
Zac Brown Band will star in the Sunday Night Baseball show open on NBC and Peacock, NBC Sports announced. The open was filmed at American Family Field, home of ...
26/03/2026
Major League Baseball opens the 2026 season with nationally televised games across multiple media partners. Fans can visit MLB.com/Watch for a complete schedule...
26/03/2026
DIRECTV has announced an agreement to carry nine new MLB-operated team channels, covering the Cincinnati Reds, Detroit Tigers (Detroit SportsNet), Kansas City R...
26/03/2026
Nationals.TV, the Washington Nationals' local broadcast channel, is now avai...
26/03/2026
Starting Thursday, March 26, MLB.TV will be available on the ESPN App, giving fans access to more than 2,000 out-of-market regular season games. Fans can also r...
26/03/2026
By Matt Klein
Hello to everyone reading this - whether you're a current YEP, HPA member, or just YEP-curious. I'm Matt Klein, one of the co-chairs of t...
26/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
26/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
26/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
26/03/2026
28 participating companies, from start-ups to blue-chips, lead the UK Group as part of the GREAT Britain and Northern Ireland presence across all the Halls at N...
26/03/2026
Arkona Unveils BLADE//planner and Major Usability Enhancements at NAB 2026
Brie Clayton March 26, 2026
0 Comments
New graphical configuration tool and...
26/03/2026
Bitfocus showcases complete control at NAB Show 2026
Brie Clayton March 26, 2026
0 Comments
Continuing development drives advances in security, availa...
26/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
26/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
26/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
26/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
26/03/2026
Nevion introduces powerful new Panel Builder to enhance VideoIPath broadcast con...
26/03/2026
2026 Oscar Nominated Films Powered by Blackmagic Design
Brie Clayton March 25, 2026
0 Comments
DaVinci Resolve Studio used on 27 of this year's no...
26/03/2026
Leader to present full suite of advanced Test & Measurement solutions at NAB Sho...
26/03/2026
Boston Conservatory to Present New England and Collegiate Premiere of Groundbrea...
26/03/2026
Back to All News
Have a Wish Worth Dying For? Netflix's First Korean YA Hor...
26/03/2026
Back to All News
The Truthers, Starring Jose Coronado and St phanie Magnin, Pre...
26/03/2026
Editor's note: This post is part of Into the Omniverse, a series focused on ...
26/03/2026
That gaming backlog won't clear itself - GeForce NOW is here to help. Stream the latest titles straight from the cloud across a variety of devices.
This we...
25/03/2026
Live match directors Sarah Cheadle (Sky Sports), Rob Levi (TNT Sports), and Andrew Swift (BBC Sport) sit down with the Premier League's Rachel Nightingale t...
25/03/2026
The senior from Upstate New York is manning the mic while also interning for the athletic department's sports-information team
In the live-sports-video ind...
25/03/2026
Synamedia has announced ContentArmor Edge Watermarking, a server-side solution t...
25/03/2026
SES has announced meoSphere, a medium Earth orbit (MEO) satellite network targeted for operation by 2030. The first phase will pair SES-developed software-defin...
25/03/2026
TVU Networks is working with Reuters on a phased migration from satellite to a c...
25/03/2026
Nielsen has announced three senior appointments. Seth Ladetsky has been named Head of Global Sports. Trevor Fellows will lead Nielsen's advertiser and agenc...
25/03/2026
Anoki and Amagi have launched In-Scene Ads powered by Anoki ContextIQ across Amagi's portfolio of in-content ad formats for Free Ad-supported Streaming TV (...
25/03/2026
Arkona Technologies will announce a series of enhancements to its BLADE//runner platform at NAB 2026 (Booth C.1808). The updates focus on usability and workflow...
25/03/2026
Daktronics has installed two tower displays and a video wall in the Lexus Club at Petco Park in San Diego ahead of the 2026 season.
Continuing to improve the ...
25/03/2026
MultiDyne Video & Fiber Optic Systems is celebrating its 50th anniversary as NAB Show 2026 approaches. The company was founded in 1976 by Vincent Jachetta, an N...
25/03/2026
IPC, a provider of integrated communication solutions, will make its NAB 2026 de...
25/03/2026
Live production categories were led by NBC, FOX, and ESPN's NFL coverage...
25/03/2026
The Atlanta Braves and Spectrum have announced a multiyear distribution agreemen...
25/03/2026
(L-R) Charlie Tyrell and Daniel Roher attend The AI Doc: Or How I Became An Apocaloptimist Premiere during the 2026 Sundance Film Festival at The Ray Theatre ...
25/03/2026
L3Harris Technologies and RFTEQ Pty Ltd signed a memorandum of understanding to ...
Behind the Scenes on September 5 
