Music of the Spheres: The first live-action series to be completely shot in 360 degrees

You might expect that breakthroughs in virtual reality would be coming out of tech hubs like Silicon Valley, but a Washington a team of intrepid filmmakers lead by award-winning media artist Ruth Gregory have begun releasing the episodes for the first live-action series completely shot using a 360 degree camera; allowing viewers the opportunity to look in any direction during a scene.

Music of the Spheres was created, written, and directed by Gregory, a Pullman, Washington resident and shot last summer outside Seattle with an all-Washington crew. The first four episodes are now available on YouTube and Littlstar and there are five more in this season yet to come.

The storyline of Music of the Spheres follows the protagonist Angela as she searches for her sister Elizabeth in an alternate universe ruled by the teachings of Pythagoras. Angela is as determined to save her sister as she is guilt-ridden since Angela accidentally banished her sister to the distant realm as a child.

Gregory is still a little in shock that this story has come to life in this groundbreaking manner, “It's completely wild. When I started writing the series last fall the camera we shot with [a v.360 from VSN] wasn't even available. But as soon as I heard about the possibility to shoot in 360 degrees I knew it would be perfect for our story.”

The revolutionary format did not come without challenges. The crew had to hide out of view during takes. This meant that often they were in a completely different room than where the action was taking place. “I found myself several times huddled behind a tree and listening to the actors perform and trying to figure out if they'd hit the emotional beats of the scene,” Gregory said, “It was challenging for sure!”

Luckily the cast includes a bevy of Washington talent who’ve been seasoned on high profile projects like Syfy’s “Z Nation” and NBC’s “Grimm” as well as movies like Wild and Safety Not Guaranteed. Rosalie Miller stars as Angela and the primary cast also includes Tony Doupe (Dan), Lowell Deo (Scott), Jennifer True (Petra), Jodie Harwood (Pam), Caroline Slater (Young Elizabeth), and Maeve Campbell (Young Angela).

To find out more about the series visit spheresseries.com.