Making the image travel: Video assist on Outlander-prequel “Blood of My Blood” (S02) with video technician Mihail Ursu

For the massive global fanbase of the Outlander series, Scotland’s rugged landscapes and epic storytelling have long captured imaginations. The prequel series, Blood of My Blood, revisits the world of the original show, following younger versions of main characters and two parallel love stories: one in the 18th-century Highlands, and another in World War I-era England. 

Behind the scenes of the production, Mihail Ursu ensured, as a playback operator and video technician, that directors, the script supervisor, DIT, and crew had consistent, real-time access to images across monitors. Shooting a historical fantasy series with a layered narrative in remote Highland locations under unpredictable weather conditions posed unique challenges. A robust, well-organized video assist solution was essential, to ensure that directors, the script supervisor, DIT, and crew could reliably view the images they needed on monitors and iPads. We spoke with Mihail about his journey into film, the evolution of video assist from Outlander (S04) to Blood of my Blood (S02), and how he built a highly sophisticated Reeltime Pro setup in just eight days.

A lifelong fascination with images

Mihail’s path into film production began long before he stepped on set. “It may have started as a child with a Lomo Smena 8M and a Fed 3, both kept out of my reach,” he recalls. “They fascinated me and left a lasting impression.” Eventually, his curiosity evolved into photography and photojournalism, including a stint in wedding photography. “Great resilience training, as weddings can last 18–20 hours in Romania, ” he laughs. 

From there, he pursued formal studies, completing a degree in Cinematography at the I. L. Caragiale National University of Theatre and Film in Bucharest, followed by a Master’s degree at Screen Academy Scotland in Edinburgh. Along the way, he met influential industry professionals, including Grant McPhee, an established DIT who would mark his career. Mihail then joined the Screen Nets One training program as a Camera Trainee, which gave him the chance to connect with more industry professionals and build his career in film production. “Today I work mostly in Scotland, across a range of productions from low to high-budget films, high-end TV, and commercials. I’m happy to get stuck in wherever I’m needed,” he says.

The evolving demands of modern video assist and streaming

“In most of the jobs at the beginning, as a camera trainee, I also did video assist,” Mihail recalls. “The essentials remain the same: providing monitors, playback, keeping track of the kit, and assisting the camera, but the scale and complexity have changed dramatically. Today, wireless networking, on-set streaming are essential, also fibre optics came in a bit more and the playback sources have evolved from Pix 240i to solutions like QTAKE and Reeltime Pro. And of course, all of these additional changes these days require a dedicated team to deliver a great result.” 

Mihail’s collaboration with Outlander began with Season 4 as a video assistant. He eventually became data manager on the original series. His current work on Blood of My Blood (S02), sees him leading the video department and handling playback on set with Reeltime Pro. 

The essentials [of video assist] remain the same: providing monitors, playback, keeping track of the kit, and assisting the camera, but the scale and complexity have changed dramatically.

Over several seasons, Mihail has introduced numerous improvements to the video department. “From Outlander, Season 4 to now, I’ve implemented a motorized Senior Magliner with an added front cage to hold all the stands needed for the day,” he explains. “It has dramatically sped things up. There’s a lot of joy in not having to push a Magliner stacked with six lead-acid batteries, four 17-inch monitors, accessories, and Teradeks up a steep, muddy hill. On occasion, it even pulled the Livegrade rig in tow.” He also secured an additional trainee, acquired a van, started designing custom monitor mounts and accessories, and adapted to changing technology.

Inside the Blood of my Blood video department

“On this show, the video department handles the wireless setup, provides a picture to the DIT working with Livegrade, and supports the entire crew, including building tents and ensuring monitors are everywhere they need to be,” he explains.

On this show, the video department handles the wireless setup, provides a picture to the DIT working with Livegrade, and supports the entire crew, including building tents and ensuring monitors are everywhere they need to be.

In practice, Mihail, his video assistant, DIT Marc Campbell and the data manager operated as a single department, following the signal chain as a clear order of priorities: First setting up the Livegrade/DP tent, assembling the rest of the kit, setting up tents for video assist, other departmens and the director, running cables, checking that every monitor had a reliable picture, and preparing everything to be ready for the next moves.

“Our priority was speed and proximity to the action,” Mihail explains. He made sure the director, script supervisor, and crew had comfortable viewing conditions, even in rainy or stormy weather. As with all good collaborations, he maintained clear communication and continuously sought ways to provide support. “For the script supervisor, probably the cornerstone of the job, we provided two Ovide Koko monitors on auto-record with their own receivers, a very large and solid monitor hood to keep the paperwork dry, and a large umbrella standing by.” Therefore, she was able to run her own playback, with Mihail and his team stepping in whenever recordings or documentation was needed from a scene that was shot another day.

Building a Reeltime Pro setup from scratch

Mihail’s choice to use Reeltime Pro was deliberate and informed by years of experience with various playback solutions. “Across the years, I had tested a few different playback solutions, like Live Assist, OKTO, and anything else I could find. And while they seemed to be competent, none of them did on-set streaming”, he recalls. When Reeltime Pro entered beta, he ran tests on Blood of My Blood, Season 01. “It performed very well, and I knew I could put together something much better than the Pix 240i recorders we had, with relatively little cost. […] Very importantly, the Hair/Make-up and Costume said the quality of the streamed picture was better than what they were used to”, he summarizes.

Across the years, I had tested a few different playback solutions, like Live Assist, OKTO, and anything else I could find. And while they seemed to be competent, none of them did on-set streaming.

About 10 days before the start of prep for Blood of my Blood, Season 2, Mihail was offered the video technician position and proposed building a basic Reeltime setup that would outperform the existing recorder solution. This meant he had just a few days to design and build a rig capable of standing in. “I ended up with a multi-camera setup in 8 days, which we used for the entire six-month shoot,” he says.

His video assist rig, built into an SKB Flyer 4U case, included:

• 1 x MacBook Pro M4 running Reeltime Pro 
• 1 x AJA Kumo 16×16 12G
• 1 x AJA IO 4K
• 1 x Sonnet Dual NVME Thunderbolt dock, which in turn had 2 x Blackmagic DeckLink Micro SDI cards inside it
• 1 x Scarlett 2i2
• 3 x distribution amplifiers and power distribution for everything
• power from an EcoFlow Delta 2 (even though is not UPS rated actually switches fast enough that the 220watt 12v power supply keeps everything running)
• TP-Link routers creating mesh networks, later upgraded to Ubiquity Outdoor access points
• Stream Deck controller

“I am currently replacing the Blackmagic Design Decklinks with an AJA IO 4K plus, the distribution amplifiers with a Blackmagic 16×16 3g router with an inbuilt control panel, improving cooling, changing the cables inside to Belden 4855R with 12G rated connectors, and revamping the networking side with more output ports and a smaller router,” Mihail notes.

Operating Reeltime Pro on set

Mihail’s workflow with Reeltime Pro was built around keeping the crew connected and the footage organized. He recorded and labeled every take, ran local streams to monitors and iPads, played back shots when needed, and occasionally handled overlays for VFX-heavy scenes.

Reeltime Pro’s central user interface is designed around slots to easily manage and route multiple live and playback signals. “We maxed out the slots available in the 3-channel option of Reeltime Pro with 3 camera outputs and 3 local streams, and the feedback was extremely positive. Everyone appreciated the live picture with minimal delay, especially the sync-sensitive sound department.”  

We maxed out the slots available in the 3-channel option of Reeltime Pro with 3 camera outputs and 3 local streams, and the feedback was extremely positive. Everyone appreciated the live picture with minimal delay, especially the sync-sensitive sound department.

With all cameras equipped with Teradek 6LT transmitters sending signals to close-to-set 6Max receivers connected to the DIT cart, the workflow was built around a structured and resilient signal path. From the receivers, feeds travelled via a 3-core loom into the DIT workstation, before being passed through a 6-core loom to the video assist workstation.

To maintain efficiency on set, Mihail organized separate routing groups for fast and flexible signal distribution. Group 1 returned A, B and C camera feeds to the DIT and DP. Group 2 supplied the same feeds to the director. Group 3 distributed A, B and C via distribution amplifiers to the sound department and additional crew monitors. This structure allowed playback to be viewed at the DIT cart while the director and other departments could continue receiving uninterrupted live feeds. Mihail’s Stream Deck served as the primary control for switching between playback and live signals, either per group or across all outputs simultaneously. In addition, three dedicated camera streams via a local network were maintained, typically remaining live and switching to playback only when the assistant script supervisor or other crew required specific reviews. With Reeltime’s companion app, Reeltime Viewer, they could conveniently monitor on their iPads and save stills whenever needed.

What did he value in his work as an operator? He appreciated the features that kept the workflow organized and efficient, such as creating folders for each shooting day, grouping shots into Smart Groups for quick access, and managing the router to switch seamlessly between live feeds and playback.

“What I liked in particular was, that a week in, I had little doubt it would work. The system had been more reliable than I had hoped, especially considering that it was built in 8 days. And the occasional 3-times-a-week random crash was resolved by the excellent technical support team through daily builds and subsequent software updates.”

What I liked in particular was, that a week in, I had little doubt it would work. The system had been more reliable than I had hoped, especially considering that it was built in 8 days.

His advice for other professionals considering Reeltime? “I’d say give it a go and get a testing license. It seems to run with pretty much any video capture card, from an older Thunderbolt 2 IO 4K to a Kona 5. It gives you the freedom to customise your setup however you like, the automations work, and the support has been brilliant from the testing stage.”

I’d say give it a go and get a testing license. It seems to run with pretty much any video capture card, from an older Thunderbolt 2 IO 4K to a Kona 5. It gives you the freedom to customise your setup however you like, the automations work, and the support has been brilliant from the testing stage.

Reflections on the job

No day on set is ever predictable. “Some days, we’re wading through rivers, moving trucks up steep hills, or braving storms with large ground anchors and four-stage weights just to keep the receiver stands upright,” Mihail recalls with a laugh. His approach? “Pack everything you might need, plus spares, and stay safe and in good humor.”

Mihail’s favorite moments on Blood of my Blood (S02) are as much about people as technical achievements. “We had some of Scotland’s most beautiful locations and many laughs. The people absolutely made it, Marc the DIT has been fantastic, my assistant Ieuan Carlyle, the DPs Ali Walker and Scott Napier, and all the others who make many challenging days become doable and fun.”

At its core, his role is about enabling others to do their best work. “For the crew, getting a picture on a monitor or iPad whenever they need it is key. People are focused on their own roles, and my job is to be as invisible as possible, which means everything has to run extremely smoothly. If nobody comes on the radio looking for my assistant or me, then we must be doing something right. That’s why I rely on tools that are capable of delivering that, tools like Reeltime Pro.”

People are focused on their own roles, and my job is to be as invisible as possible, which means everything has to run extremely smoothly.

In three words, Mihail sums up what he loves most about his job: “Often unexpected challenges.”

Big thanks to Mihail for sharing all these insights with us!