A Party Line or PL is a communication channel shared by a specific group of beltpacks. There is a party line called ALL CAMERA, which talks to all the camera beltpacks, but most party lines only talk to a sub-set. If used thoughtfully, this keeps the amount of peripheral chatter
to a minimum.
In all but one case, if you see the name of a party line on your beltpack display, you will hear everything that is said on that party line. You can quick mute a specific party line if you need to.
To speak on a party line, press the associated key on your beltpack. In most cases the key will act momentarily, like a walkie talkie. The camera team specific keys (A CAM, B CAM, etc) on the Operator, Focus Puller and Dolly Grip beltpacks, will latch open, so that you can talk on these channels with your hands free.
Crane Channel
The CRANE party line is a special case. Even though you see this channel on your beltpack, you will not hear anything that is said on it unless you have the key pressed.
See 08 Keys > Talk & Listen (PL)
The CRANE party line key operates in Auto mode.
The logic is that this creates a flexible place for ad hoc teams to communicate, without having to change beltpack configurations. There are cases where normally separated crew members are working together on the same team, hypothetically the A Dolly Grip, B Dolly Grip, and C Dolly Grip could all be operating a jib with the C Operator on the wheels. Since they all have the CRANE channel on their beltpacks, these crew members are all able to speak to each other. Other crew members will not hear that channel unless their CRANE key is also pressed.
Here is a list of Party Lines used in our system.
| All Camera |
|---|
| Party Line |
| A Cam |
| B Cam |
| C Cam + |
| Crane |
| Operators |
| Focus |
| Dolly Grips |
| Lighting & Grip |
| Camera Walkie |
| Electric Walkie |
| Grip Walkie |
C CAM +
The plus sign indicates that D, E, F… cameras all share this party line with C CAM, because the DP beltpack has run out of buttons for further party lines. Beltpacks for cameras >C CAM should be set up with the C CAM + profile.
see also 07 Party Line Etiquette