Media and the Munich massacre: September 5 DP Markus Förderer

The film September 5 is the story of the ABC Sports broadcasting
team covering the terrorist attack at the 1972 Munich Olympics. It
was the first Olympics to be broadcast live, when Israeli Olympians
were taken hostage at the Olympic Village by Palestinian
terrorists. The sports reporting team, initially focused on
covering the games, finds themselves suddenly thrust into the role
of live news reporters as the hostage situation unfolds. They have
to grapple with the terrifying events while trying to inform the
world about what was occuring. September 5 focuses on the pivotal
role of media coverage in shaping public understanding of the
crisis. While waiting for financing for September 5,
cinematographer Markus Förderer and director Tim Fehlbaum spent
three years researching and scouting for the film. They obtained
permission to shoot at the Munich Olympic village, to fully set the
film in the historical context. The television studio and control
room were all built on soundstages. Once September 5 was finally
green-lit, Markus had only a tight two-week prep period, during
which he experimented with his own lens tuning and modifications.
An avid lens hobbyist, Markus took some lenses apart, adding dust,
smudges and fingerprints to some of the elements to give the film
an authentic period look. They shot digitally on a RED V-Raptor on
two cameras, with Markus operating one of the cameras himself. It
was important to director Tim Fehlbaum to create a very
claustrophobic feeling within the windowless television studio.
"Tim was adamant that we only show what the characters would have
seen," Markus explains. "The TV monitors became their windows to
the outside world." The film blends original footage with real,
archival news films and meticulously recreated scenes. Markus
wanted the visual style to reflect the era, while maintaining a
contemporary relevance. Both Markus and Fehlbaum were influenced by
the look and feel of Natural Born Killers. The use of analog
technology such as flickering fluorescent lights and TV monitors
became an important tool for Markus to create a state of heightened
tension. "If we flicker these monitors, which we use as a key light
source in the dark control room, the whole image will pulse,"
Markus says. "It looked really crazy, but it was fascinating. We
synced it so it looks right on camera. As the tension gets higher
and higher in certain scenes, like when we see the masked man on
the balcony, we dynamically ramp up the flicker frequency of our
film lights." You can see September 5 wide in theaters January
17th. Find Markus Forderer: Instagram @markusforderer Check out
Markus' passion project, CINEFLARES. https://lenses.cineflares.com/
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