Modes of Communication
Broadcast: Everyone hears everything. This is the
All Camerachannel.Party Line: This is a small, distinct workgroup, like the A Camera team.
Beltpack-to-Beltpack: Two people talking privately, no one else has to hear.
The single most important reason to use a party line system, like the Boleros, is selective communication. Not everyone needs or wants to hear everything everyone in the department says. We try to design our party lines so that camera crew members are grouped with the others they speak with most often, so that conversations are contained to the smallest possible audience.
Concentration is difficult and fatiguing when one is hearing extraneous conversations in their headset. Try to get in the habit of using the REPLY key. Convert conversations that start as a party line call to a beltpack-to-beltpack conversation as soon as possible, and as often as possible.
Try to use the ALL CAMERA PL as a very last resort, or as a way to call out the T-stop or other brief information that everyone needs to know. Do not use it for long conversations.