Start-to-Finish Victory – Jerry Appelt stages TV Total WOK WM with Cameo

For more than 20 years, the TV Total WOK WM (WOK World Cup) has been as much a part of winter sports television as the Four Hills Tournament or the Streif downhill race in Kitzbühel. The single and quad woks reach top speeds of up to 115 km/h on the 1.6 km bobsleigh run in Winterberg. Typical for modern sports television, the focus of the production is not only on the competition itself, but also on the surrounding programme with 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 fixtures such as the OTOS B5 IP65 Beam Moving Head, the S4 IP LED Softlights and the ZENIT W600 SMD.

Cameo Light Installation at TV Total WOK WM in Winterberg with Light Deisgner Jerry Appelt and OTOS B5 IP65 Beam Moving Head and S4 IP IP65 Softlight Panel

First held over 20 years ago as a goofy bet, the WOK World Cup has developed into a serious sporting event that must be captured by TV cameras in the highest possible quality. “That’s why you need suitable keylights that also work for slow-mo and super slow-mo shots,” explains lighting designer & DoP Jerry Appelt, who has been responsible for the visual realisation of the WOK World Cup for many years. “Most large bobsleigh tracks now have their own permanently installed lighting for the track. We can add on to this with our lighting, but we have to ensure that the colour temperature is adjusted precisely.”

TV-compatible outdoor beams

In addition to the bobsleigh run itself, the focus of the lighting was primarily on the presenter platforms in the start and finish areas. “We needed a fully outdoor-capable, powerful and compact beam light 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 realisation of the WOK World Cup since the first edition in 2003 and 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.”
Jerry Appelt, DoP & Lighting Designer, TV Total WOK WM

For the busy lighting designer, the OTOS B5 will continue to play a role in the future: “The fixtures are really good and easy to use. I will definitely be using the OTOS B5 more often in future.”

S4 IP & ZENIT W600 SMD

For Cape Cross, the 2023 WOK World Cup was the first production with Cameo lights. Accordingly, the Cameo S4 IP Softlights celebrated their debut in Winterberg and convinced Manuel Meloh and Jerry Appelt as a soft and bright front light for the presentation areas, which did not cause any problems even in the constant rain. In addition, the IP65-certified LED soft panels were also used for TV-compatible illumination of the start zone of the bobsleigh run.

The ZENIT W600 SMD Outdoor SMD LED Wash Light also demonstrated its weather resistance and was used both for creative effects and as a blinder: “The ZENIT W600 SMD is a great light for TV shows,” confirms Manuel Meloh.