Complications With Background Noise

My group didn't anticipate how much background noise would be picked up during filming. After the first or second take, we paused to listen and realized there was a loud, static-like hum filling the room. It didn't take long to figure out it was the air conditioner. The hum was so constant that it threatened to ruin the audio quality of our footage. The only immediate solution I could think of was to turn the AC off completely while we filmed. Once I did, the room became silent, like the kind of controlled quiet you'd expect on a professional set. As we kept filming, we quickly realized just how many subtle background noises were creeping in. For example, the ice machine in the fridge, the sound of doors closing, and even the ping of text messages coming through on our phone all started to creep into the scene. Each of these sounds, though small on their own, began to stack up, each one threatening to disrupt the audio quality. So, even if the acting was great, there were several moments where we had to reshoot due to unexpected noise interruptions. Each of these reshoots were a bit of a setback, especially because we were on a time-crunch, but we knew it was crucial to maintain the quality of the final product. 

The picture above shows how the therapy scene was shot in a central room in my house. This made the noise from the AC more apparent. Luckily, when it came to the bedroom scene, we could just shut the door and the noise was controlled.