Reeltime Pro goes rap: J. Cardona on video assist for Travis Scott’s new music video

Travis Scott, one of the biggest names in American rap, just dropped the video for his highly anticipated track, „4×4.” Within a week, the video attracted millions of views on YouTube, building excitement for his headline show at this year’s Coachella festival. Being the first release since his last big hit, the video had to be nothing short of spectacular – both creatively and technically. Shot mainly on 16mm film, it features high-speed car chases, Hollywood-worthy explosions, an atmospheric black-and-white aesthetic, and intricate VFX – all brought to life by a large international crew from Texas, Atlanta, France, Russia, and Germany. 

Among the 40+ crew members was Jordan Cardona, a seasoned VTR operator, DIT, and colorist with over 15 years of experience in feature films, commercials, and large-scale music videos. He began his career in post-production as an editor and colorist before expanding into VFX, networking, and data management. His multidisciplinary expertise reinforced his belief in the critical role of DIT and VTR for smooth productions— a still often overlooked reality on set. In this interview, Jordan shares how he used Reeltime Pro to support creative and technical roles across departments with seamless video playback on set.

Project scope and challenges

Over four thrilling days of production, the team navigated intense rigging, executed eight company moves, had to manage very limited time with talent, and handled the specialties of mixing analog and digital. Filming was done on two Arriflex 416 Plus 16mm cameras and an additional Alexa Mini LF. Even though Jordan’s primary responsibility was video assist for the director, script, and VFX supervisor, he also collaborated closely with DP, the camera department, and others to ensure a smooth workflow.

“Even though everyone does not truly know what or why a VTR is needed until they see us, I worked well and closely with all the departments. I even had Grip & Electrical coming by to check our live feed and scopes (my DIT side) with the DP for our exposure with a majority of the scenes, and our director and I had a blast coordinating video village, wireless.”

Custom setup and tailored views

Jordan’s video assist setup utilized a combination of hardware and software that included, of course, a Reeltime Pro but also a Silverstack Lab license for optional quality checks or transcodes. His customized cart is equipped with two 24” 4K monitors, two 13” M4 iPad Pros, Teradek devices for seamless signal transmission, a Blackmagic 10×10 12G Videohub, and a Blackmagic Ultrastudio 4K Mini. Find a detailed list at the bottom of this article.

Facilitating numerous outputs, Jordan ensured that the creative team had views that were specifically suited to their needs. There were four main outputs – VTR, director TX, DP TX, and the video village feed. Additionally, four daisy-chained outputs were configured, with one being Jordan’s Teradek Serv 4K going into his custom 5G wifi box so he could broadcast the signal to another city/country. 

His ability to swiftly adapt tailored views for different roles garnered praise from the crew, proving how pivotal Reeltime Pro was in the collaborative process. Especially when previewing the intended black-and-white look.

I sent this look out to the director, DP, and video village. The Grip & Electric and Hair & Makeup teams viewed their portion of outputs on color since they needed to dial in exposure properly and check for skin detail and such.

Handling analog and supporting the creative team

Both of the two ARRI 416 Plus had a custom tap built into the camera, providing a clean and neutral SDI signal out of the camera. Therefore, Jordan was able to treat the analog signal just like he would treat a digital one. 

“Processing that feed into my 10×10 12G router, then into my Blackmagic Ultrastudio was a breeze, and it recognized the signal instantly, and then I could start to change what I needed. I am glad that Reeltime Pro supports inexpensive gear such as the Ultrastudio and doesn’t require something proprietary like other companies do…which makes no sense to me. I love that Pomfort’s software supports a lot of different media types, hardware units, and more. It helps me do my job much easier.”

Understanding the visual needs of the creative team was key, especially when working with analog 16mm film. For the post team and edit, many scenes would be black and white, even though the film stock was Kodak Vision 3 250D and 500T. Upon request of the director and DP, Jordan loaded in pre-created LUTs via Reeltime Pro’s filter options, which are available in composite and the reference mode of input slots. 

Especially on 16mm film, we would not be able to process certain LUTs and feeds if I wasn’t there and without Reeltime Pro. I love how easy it was to use, AND how similar the UI/UX is to Silverstack & Livegrade (shoutout to the Pomfort design team).

Live chroma keying

With many green screen shots and a dedicated VFX team from France, Jordan leveraged Reeltime Pro’s chroma keying feature to enable real-time previews.  

“Actually, they didn’t even know I could live key for them – I mocked up a looping VFX video for them when I noticed they needed it for a scene, and they were blown away at how fast I did that.”

A close collaboration with the VFX supervisor started. Jordan created cuts of the footage and imported them into Reeltime Pro on a composite slot, activated the loop functionality, merged it with the live key, and sent the preview to the outputs. Also, the drone operator who shot the plates of the city loved how everything came out. 

When you work in real productions that require a lot of ideas to really come into play, the simple things really make a world of difference. The image overlay, green screen key, and the composite slots were best companions.

Wrapping up!

“4×4” marked Jordan’s fourth project using Reeltime Pro, following two feature films and another 4-day commercial. What stood out to him most during this production was Reeltime Pro’s seamless integration with various hardware setups, making it a versatile tool on set while still being easy to learn. With the direct outputs to the director, DP, and video village for real-time monitoring, Jordan was able to maintain the visual intentions of the creative team efficiently while also handling live keying tasks for VFX.

Not a single crash or hiccup from Reeltime Pro. That was such a blessing on all the signals and more floating around on set with no assistant. I was happy to trust this software so well.

As Jordan looks ahead, he’s eager to expand his international work, embracing the opportunity to connect with diverse crews worldwide. We’re excited to follow his journey and hear more behind-the-scenes stories in the future. Big thanks, Jordan, for sharing these insights with us!

Inside Jordan’s setup and personal notes: 

• 1 x Reeltime Pro, 3 Channels license (the best for VTR 🙃)
• 1 x Silverstack Lab license (in case we needed to verify anything/transcode media)
• 1 x 40” film cart from filmcart.eu that I custom-milled with drawers, trays, bins, etc.
• 2 x 24” 4K, 12G SDI/HDMI monitors
• 2 x 13” M4 iPad Pro’s attached with 2 wireless RX
• 1 x Teradek Bolt 6 LT 750 TX (mounted onto our AC’s rig, daisy-chaining the signal)
• 3 x Teradek Bolt 6 LT 750 RX (2 on the iPads, one on my monitor setup as a daisy chain)
• 1 x Teradek Serv 4K (broadcasting via a custom wifi box to send the feed to view anywhere)
• 1 x 16” touchscreen Mac monitor (outsourced main view layout of Reeltime Pro)
• 1 x Blackmagic Videohub 10×10 12G hub for all my routing and switching
• 2 x Blackmagic Ultrastudio 4K Mini’s (feeding my signal into Reeltime Pro, from the 12G router)
• 1 x 64TB, OWC Flex 1U4 NVMe Storage (my personal, on-set stage solution – 10GB/sec!)
• 1 x 3kW power station (enough electricity to power my kit for 13 hours, full load)