For more than 20 years, the TV Total WOK World Championships have been as much a part of winter sports television as the Four Hills Tournament or the Streif downhill in Kitzbühel. On the 1.6 km long bobsleigh track in Winterberg, Germany, the single and quad woks reach top speeds of up to 115 km/h. As is usual in modern sports television, the focus of the production is not only on the competition itself, but also on the surrounding program of presenters, guests, and music acts. For this reason, the lighting team – led by Jerry Appelt – and the overall technical service provider Cape Cross opted for flexible Cameo spotlights such as the OTOS B5 IP65 beam moving head, the S4 IP LED softlights, and the ZENIT W600 SMD from the ZENIT W600 Series, which is widely used in the industry.
Born over 20 years ago as a fun bet, the WOK World Cup has developed into a serious sporting event that needs to be captured by TV cameras in media-effective image quality. “This requires suitable key lights that also work for slow motions and super slow motions,” explains Lighting Designer & Director of Photography Jerry Appelt, who has been responsible for the visuals of the WOK World Championships for many years. “Most large bobsleigh tracks now have their own permanently integrated lighting for the track. We can build on this with our lighting, but we have to make sure that the color temperature is adjusted precisely.”
In addition to the bobsleigh track itself, the focus of the lighting was primarily on the presentation platforms in the start and finish areas. “We needed a fully outdoor-capable, powerful and compact beam spotlight that could also hold its own in the rain,” adds Cape Cross Managing Director Manuel Meloh. As a subsidiary of the production company Brainpool, Cape Cross has been responsible for the technical side of the WOK World Cup since the first edition in 2003, and the company knows the pitfalls of an outdoor TV production. Jerry Appelt and his team use the OTOS B5 beam moving heads primarily as an eye-candy effect in the form of beam structures in the background of the presenter platforms in the start and finish areas: “The OTOS B5s do an excellent job: the beams are powerful and stand out clearly and concisely against the dark background.”
The WOK World Championships was Cape Cross’ first production with Cameo spotlights this winter. Accordingly, the Cameo S4 IP Softlights also celebrated their premiere in Winterberg and impressed Manuel Meloh and Jerry Appelt as a soft and bright front light for the presentation areas, which did not cause any problems even in constant rain. The IP65-certified LED soft panels were also used for TV-compatible illumination of the start area of the bobsleigh run, while the ZENIT W600 SMD outdoor SMD LED wash lights proved their weather resistance and were used both for creative effects and as blinders: “The ZENIT W600s have become an industry standard for outdoor LED wash lights,” confirms Jerry Appelt.
Further information from Cameo: cameolight.com
