The TV Show That Found Success With 360 Video Scenes

Before Facebook had plans of making a 360 camera or Nokia and GoPro had realised that was the future in video cameras, a TV show introduced the notion of spherical video to mass audiences. Eighteen years ago, The ’70s Show became a success thanks to their 360 scenes #videomagic

In august 1998, the first episode of what would become an eight season, Emmy Award-winning hit show, aired on Fox with a 360 scene. The ’70s Show was introducing each character by taking turns on the camera. The camera operator didn’t use any fancy gimmick, as Debra Jo Rupp, one of the leading actresses, explains: “The 360 are very, very hard. You all seat in a circle, in the middle, and it goes from person to person and it’s right in your face”.

Indeed, the camera rig simply turned from one character to another, showing everybody at the table, with careful editing from the camera crew. “This made our show a hit from the first episode”, adds Danny Masterson. Indeed, the initial video experiment became a recurring feature, the team behind the show being fairly certain that up to 180 scenes were shoot like this. One time, they even showed the “circle” as a cartoon.

The team had so much fun, they mostly improvised in these scenes, as you can see from min. 1:39. Now, if only someone could put them all in a continuous video…