corriedavidson.com

Recently, I was out on a solo location shoot for a client,shooting interviews all day in different set ups with different subjects butwith the same gear – light kit, wireless lav mic, camera and tripod.  I had just set up my final scene forthe day and the interviewee sat down for a sound check. After wiring her up, Ibegan to hear a strange ticking static sound in my headphones when she spoke. Ichecked my settings, checked the receivers and transmitters, and even replacedthe batteries in both units – no change. I moved the location of the mic unitsand double checked that all cell phones were turned off or removed from theroom (often cell signals particularly from smart phones will interfere with asignal when sending out “square” wavesdue to improper shielding) – still no change. Thinking perhaps the subject’sunderwire bra was creating a problem, I relocated the mic and ran the cord upher back – still to no avail.

I was completely dumbfounded by the situation. Nothing inthe room was emitting a signal, I had changed the batteries twice, the gear wasthe same, and no cables were laying across power cords, but still I continuedto receive an interference noise. Shuddering at the thought of conducting aversion of the interview with the on camera mic (which had no suchinterference) I debated internally changing locations or rescheduling theshoot. Then the subject moved her hair back to reveal large circular earrings.

Having shot many women with necklaces and jewelry and neverhaving encountered a signal interference before, I was curious if earringscould cause the interference I was hearing. She removed her earrings and sureenough, the static sound disappeared.

Whether her adornments were made of a crazy metal or justmade through an unusual process, I have no idea, but it served as a goodreminder that sometimes it’s the simplest answer or “the last place you look”.Even experienced videographers need to keep their minds open so as not to missseemingly obvious solutions. This is a lesson I won’t soon forget!