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&#
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
04/06/2026
Sony Electronics is introducing the SRG-AS10, a 4K 60p-compatible PTZ auto-frami...
04/06/2026
This recent grad from Spring, TX, led creative-video output for the Aggies' men's basketball team last season and has been producing video and creating ...
04/06/2026
For the first time at a women's golf major, every player in the field will r...
04/06/2026
Three Panasonic PT-RQ45 40,000-lumen 3-Chip DLP projectors made their first live...
04/06/2026
Bitmovin and Akamai have announced a collaboration with NRJ Group, a French mult...
04/06/2026
Telestream will exhibit at InfoComm 2026 (Booth N7952), demonstrating media work...
04/06/2026
Sony has announced the development of RIALTO 65, a 65mm format image sensor block for the VENICE 2 digital cinema camera, targeting release in the first half of...
04/06/2026
KOKUSAI DENKI Electric America will exhibit at InfoComm 2026 (Booth N8025, June ...
04/06/2026
Bell Media's TSN and RDS are the exclusive Canadian broadcasters of FIFA Wor...
04/06/2026
The Challenge: Receiving Heavy Media Files From Road Games Quickly and ReliablyT...
04/06/2026
MASV, a managed file transfer platform used in broadcast and live sports product...
04/06/2026
NESN has announced the appointment of Fahad Haider as Vice President of Operations and Engineering. Haider returns to NESN, where he previously served as Vice P...
04/06/2026
David J. Halberstam, who spent almost 50 years in sports as a broadcaster and an executive, died June 2 after a years-long battle with brain cancer.
Over his l...
04/06/2026
Although collegiate production programs are tasked with delivering high-quality ...
04/06/2026
California studio, two production trucks, global distribution system are combine...
04/06/2026
New global program empowers and supports storytellers through scriptwriting course and access to industry experts
TikTok and Sundance Institute today announce...
04/06/2026
Steinberg DAWs now boast in-depth Tonalic integration
Celemony's innovative virtual session musician plug-in has just received an update that brings ARA...
04/06/2026
Get Hands-On With Over 20 Mic Brands
GearExpo UK is fast approaching, and if you've been looking for a chance to check out some new mics, then you'r...
04/06/2026
Combos feature new Amplifier Intelligence engine
Positive Grid's latest release sees the company introduce two new combo amplifiers that promise to offe...
04/06/2026
Is Your Job Making You Work this June?
4 June, 2026
Media releases
SBS Launches the World Cup Watchers' Rights Association to Stand Up For Australians&...
04/06/2026
Statement regarding unauthorised use of SBS logos on third party social content
4 June, 2026
Media releases
SBS has become aware of social media posts in c...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Bitmovin, a leading provider of video streaming infrastructure, and Akamai, the cybersecurity and cloud computing company that powers and protects business onli...
04/06/2026
American Underground (AU), the Startup Hub of the South and a community of mor...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
NVIDIA and Microsoft Reinvent Windows PCs for the Age of Personal AI
Brie Clayton June 3, 2026
0 Comments
RTX Spark - a 1-Petaflop Superchip, the Full...
04/06/2026
Inside the Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man Grade
Brie Clayton June 3, 2026
0 Comments
Simone Grattarola discusses shaping the look in DaVinci Resolve...
04/06/2026
Cine Gear Expo Announces 2026 Awards of Excellence Recipients
Brie Clayton June 3, 2026
0 Comments
Ed Lachman ASC, Caleb Deschanel ASC, and M. David M...
04/06/2026
St. Vincents Live with Orchestra Tour to Feature Berklee Alum Ruby Plume Berklee alumni St. Vincent and Ruby Plume will appear on the same bill across seven d...
04/06/2026
Back to All News
All the Truth in My Lies Coming to Netflix on August 28
Entertainment
04 June 2026
GlobalSpain
Link copied to clipboard
Download the imag...
04/06/2026
Back to All News
Larry Tanz, VP of Content, EMEA, Delivers a Keynote Speech at ...
04/06/2026
Back to All News
Turn Your Living Room into a Stadium With the New FIFA World ...
04/06/2026
Keeping conversations real on LinkedIn Published on Jun 4, 2026 Categories: Product News
LinkedIn Corporate Communications
Share
LinkedIn
Facebook ...
04/06/2026
BackStory follows four Irish young people as they travel back to their parents' homelands
Modern Irish identity is enriched by cultures and influences from...
04/06/2026
June's forecast with GeForce NOW: 100% chance of gaming.
GeForce NOW is lining up new adventures for the month, from big-name blockbusters to quirky indies...
03/06/2026
SES and Viva, Mexico's ultra low-cost airline, have launched multi-orbit satellite inflight connectivity on Viva's Airbus aircraft. A total of 60 A320s ...
03/06/2026
The College Football Playoff, ESPN, and TNT Sports have announced kick times and...
03/06/2026
RED Digital Cinema will exhibit at Cine Gear Expo 2026 (Booth 33, June 5-6, Universal Studios Lot), hosting three panels and hands-on product demonstrations.
P...
03/06/2026
Roku has announced the Soccer Zone, a dedicated hub for FIFA World Cup 2026 content available across the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Argent...
Behind the Scenes on September 5 
