R E P O R T A G E
The international television production of the 66th Four Hills Tournament in Oberstdorf 2017
Camera crews and ski jumpers have to be brave and fit
Masses of fresh snow, sunshine, constant rain, storms and thaws are the external conditions for production staff, ski jumpers and spectators at the three-day opening ski jumping event of the 66th Four Hills Tournament in Oberstdorf. A high-speed rope camera and the innovative calculation of the ideal take-off times for the ski jumpers are world television premieres. Almost 10 million viewers watch the ARD live broadcasts.
Text and photos: Bernhard Herrmann
Camera and production personnel need thermal underwear, windproof snow jackets with hoods, rainproof pants, hats, scarves, gloves, thick socks, warm winter boots with crampons, wipes for camera lenses, hot drinks and snow chains for vehicles. However, we are not on a film production about alpine mountaineers or a polar expedition, but in the weather chaos in Oberstdorf during the international television production of the 66th International Four Hills Ski Jumping Tournament.
Anyone traveling by train from the grey-green north to Oberstdorf on the Thursday after Christmas 2017 in hazy weather can look forward to beautiful pictures of glistening snow in the sun and the Alpine panorama. The further south the train travels, the more snow-covered the landscape becomes. From Immenstadt, the fully occupied diesel railcar needs all its horsepower to slowly make its way through around 40 centimetres of fresh snow in the Oberallgäu. After leaving Oberstdorf, countless tourists and TV employees make their way to the Schattenberg ski jump in the thick snow. Several snow plows push aside the white splendor that has only been falling from the sky since the day before. A crowded city bus takes passengers from the train station to the valley station of the Nebelhorn cable car. After a few meters on foot, the access road to the ski jump is closed to all vehicles. A service provider’s rescue vehicle is parked at right angles to the road because the driver of the articulated truck, who was unfamiliar with the area, turned off too early into a narrow side road. Despite the snow chains, it was initially impossible to go either forwards or backwards. Production vehicles following behind cannot get up the hill.
Having arrived on foot at the TV compound two days before Christmas Eve, TV Skyline’s HDTV OB van Ü7 and set-up van for international TV production have been parked there. Florian Moos, Technical Director of TV Skyline, is pleased that the 20 kilometers of cable (including 2x 24 multi-fiber optic cables) have already been laid under the high snow cover for around 400 meters to the ski jump. All 30 cameras are wired and ready for operation at their designated positions. The TV compound is complete in the afternoon, after the stuck equipment truck parks late from the valley next to the corresponding OB truck.
Rudi Tusch, born in Oberstdorf, 1973 German champion on the large hill, former national ski jumping coach and now Head of TV and Event Coordination at host broadcaster Deutscher Skiverband (DSV), is sitting at his laptop in the DSV office container. Tusch is also in constant contact with Walter Hofer, FIS Race Director, checking weather data, making phone calls and organizing. Sports editor Katja Streso, who works at the next table, is responsible for the editorial part of the TV production on behalf of the DSV. Director Thomas Strobl is the “conductor” of 19 cameramen and women, a vision mixer, five unmanned cameras, eight slomo and one highlight operator, two graphics and data operators for the DSV’s international production. The world picture will be broadcast live in around 40 countries. Around 100 TV stations will report with the material from the produced worldfeed. A planned technical function test, in which camera shots with ten jumpers are to be rehearsed, has to be canceled due to persistent snow. In the evening, Strobl presents his international directing concept, including world premieres, to the sports editors and directors of the national TV stations as well as the officials in the Oberstdorfhaus and answers questions.
Looking out of the hotel room window on Friday morning, the imposing Alpine panorama can be seen in the rising sunlight behind the snow-covered landscape. The view of the winter idyll has to be brief because the thaw is already setting in. In the arena, countless helpers are already busy preparing the ski jump, landing slope and outrun. The masses of snow have to be shoveled away from the open-air stands and paths and removed with wheel loaders. Technicians from the TV stations remove the snow from the equipment at the presenter positions.
On the qualification day for the 67 ski jumpers, the director’s briefing begins at 13:00 in the TV compound. Director Thomas Strobl explains to the creative staff the live broadcasting schedule, the camera plan he sent with the schedule and the picture design for the approximately one-minute ski jumps, including all picture variations. The international program picture will consist of the images offered by the 30 cameras, eight slomos (live and/or re-live) with atmosphere and emotions from the audience, reactions of the respective coaches and athletes, ski jumpers: during warm-up, in the lounge area, corridor, elevator and tower to the ski jump, the run-out in the arena and the leader box. The live image of each ski jump is enriched with around seven graphics and data (name insert with photo of the ski jumper, jump distance to be surpassed, wind measurements, take-off speed, jump distance, jury points) in exact sequence.
To ensure that the large “orchestra” plays together harmoniously according to the precisely timed “running order” and that the viewer can enjoy the visual content of the moving image compositions, supplemented by the national commentaries of the respective sports reporters, in high quality, director Thomas Strobl demands of the creative staff: “Be brave!” This applies in two respects. Because in order to reach some camera positions on the ski jump safely over steep, slippery and snow-covered paths, several brave cameramen first have to strap crampons under the soles of their boots. Before the official start of training, the jumpers are at the start and the discussed camera angles and image sequences are rehearsed.
The international TV production shows viewers two world premieres. A high-speed cable camera, developed by Reiner Ellwanger of HS-DynaX5 Cam Solution, consists of a base station set up behind the audience in the arena. It contains the machine with a powerful electric motor. An 800-metre-long plastic rope, similar to a mountaineering rope, is guided via pulleys to a bracket above the top of the jump. The ends of the rope are attached to the bottom right and left to a type of drive-free pulley carriage. The power supply with rechargeable batteries, transmitter for video signals and receiver for camera control are located on this. Three pulley brackets are attached to the top of the construction, through which the cable runs. A 5-axis camera stabilization system weighing around 25 kilograms is mounted underneath the bracket. It contains a Sony HDC-P1 camera with a Canon wide-angle lens, protected from the weather. The high-speed cable camera reaches speeds of up to 200 kilometers per hour, explains Ellwanger. The system is operated by two employees sitting next to the base station in a workstation cabin. One operator controls the camera with two joysticks while watching two monitors. The second operator controls the rope-driven machine with computer support and observes the movements of the ropes through a window.
For decades, people have been thinking about how a ski jumper can be shown in one piece for the viewer in a two-dimensional TV picture with the impressive height differences from the starting hatch of the Schattenberg ski jump at a height of 140 meters, over the 108 meter long and steep inrun, the take-off at around 92 kilometers per hour on the take-off table at a height of around 85 meters, the flight straight ahead and into the depths, the landing on the slope at around 98 km/h with a gradient of around 38 degrees and the run-out into the arena. “The new high-speed rope camera now successfully realizes these image settings. With the help of the individually adjustable cable tension, the camera flies parallel to the ski jumper at the same height, in front, behind or over the top, almost like an eagle,” explains director Thomas Strobl, who contributed his expertise to the system development. The high-speed rope camera can be heard by a noise similar to a jet engine, which the three pulleys on the rope produce due to the high speed of around 120 km/h.
In the second world premiere, the athletes‘ take-off from the take-off table is measured and visualized for the TV viewer. For this purpose, Simi Reality Motion Systems has positioned eight small high-speed cameras with 250 frames/sec. around the take-off table. A ski jumper approaches the edge of the take-off at around 90 kilometers per hour. According to race director Walter Hofer, there is a six-metre straight section in front of it where the athlete has to jump off. According to Hofer, the athlete has around 150 milliseconds to do this. Whether the athlete jumps off too early or too late is barely visible to the eye. A four-second measurement by the eight cameras produces 8,000 individual images, from which the ski jumper’s center of gravity is extracted, explains Hofer. The computer-calculated evaluation takes around 10 seconds. The result in centimeters “too early” or “too late” is displayed as an animated graphic in the Slomo TV image of the ski jumper. “We identify the exact time of take-off via the joint angles and positions of the legs,” explains Philipp Russ, Head of Business Development at Simi.
After a heavy storm during the night, the thaw continued on Saturday. With outside temperatures of 5.5 degrees Celsius, a snow temperature of minus 6.5 degrees Celsius and humidity of 92 percent in constant rain with gusts of wind, the equipment, cameras and lenses have to be dried out. In contrast to photo lenses, some of the same manufacturers of TV lenses still do not offer any sensible lens protection for rain and snowfall. As a result, the cameramen’s lens cleaning cloths quickly get wet from regularly wiping away the raindrops. The director’s meeting takes place at 2 p.m. in the catering tent due to the persistent rain. Director Thomas Strobl calls on the creative staff again: “Be brave!”. The ski jumping competition with 25 qualified athlete pairings begins in the world feed with the 60-second countdown. Strobl addresses his colleagues in their national OB vans from the international OB van: “Hello everybody wehave 20 seconds to the program. Good luck for everybody and have fun and a good production”. Sports editor Katja Streso sits in the picture control room and keeps a close eye on the running order, ski jumpers and data monitors. Strobl gives short commands at 16:20: “10 (seconds) to go. Attention for the flight in (camera) 6. with title page. Wait, I’ll send you off (for camera 6). And the 6 – go. Graphics in…” The TV viewers see the live image as a slow flight of the high-speed rope camera over the rainy Schattenbergschanze, down into the arena and in the background Oberstdorf in the beginning dusk. In addition, the sound direction provides the multi-channel atmo of cheering crowds in the arena.
Around 25,500 spectators watch the ski jumping in the sold-out arena in constant rain until after the award ceremony. In sporting terms, Poland’s Kamil Stoch wins in Oberstdorf, as well as the entire competition of the 66th Four Hills Tournament. Ski jumper Richard Freitag achieved second place in Oberstdorf and Poland’s Dawid Kubacki third place.
- International TV production:
1 HD OB van, OB van (Ü7 from TV Skyline)
30 HD cameras (14 Grass Valley LDX 86n, 4 LDK 8000 wireless, 1 Ikegami NAC Hi-Motion II 1000 frames/sec., 2 LMP HD 1200, 4 TV Skyline Qube Cam 2)
2 camera cranes: on the jump tower and in the outrun of the arena
1 Polecam at the starting hatch
2 Slomotion cameras above the landing zone (HTTV)
1 Sony HDC-P1 high-speed cable camera (HS-DynaX5 Cam Solution)
2x 24 multi-fiber optic cables, each about 400 meters long
8 high-speed cameras at the take-off table for jumps (Simi)
Various monitors, measuring devices, timekeeping, data and TV graphics (Swiss Timing)
Microphones on all cameras and various for atmo multi-channel sound
1 SNG
1 IPTV broadcast (Vidi)
1 riser next to the jump table (Mateco)
Buildings with 8 camera towers up to six meters high, 10 platforms, 10 cable crossings (vpt)
8 office and production containers (for DSV, Swiss Timing, Infront, technology)
1 mobile power generator for TV technology: 220 kW, 3 phases of 400A each, corresponds to the consumption of 1100 electric heaters of 2 kW each (Warmbold)
12 booths for TV and radio reporters with TV and data monitors
HD picture: 1080i, sound: multi-channel Dolby Digital 5.1
90 people - National TV production:
4 HD OB vans, 4 set-up vans, 3 editing vans, office van (BR for ARD: Germany; Eurosport: English, German language versions; NRK: Norway; ORF: Austria)
1 OB van for radio (BR for ARD)
3 SNG (ARD, NRK, Sky)
Various vans for personnel
50 people
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