Center for Disease Control Headquarters, Atlanta - CDC Deputy Director Dr. Ellis Cheever [Laurence Fishburne] and Rear Admiral Lyle Haggerty [Bryan Cranston]
Cheever’s office, CDC, Atlanta - CDC Deputy Director Dr. Ellis Cheever [Laurence Fishburne] and CDC Epidemic Intelligence Service officer Dr. Erin Mears [Kate Winslet]
Crisis Control – Hotel Room, Minneapolis - CDC Epidemic Intelligence Service officer Dr. Erin Mears [Kate Winslet] continuing to direct crisis control as the virus overtakes her
Comments from some of the filmmakers on CONTAGION…
Matt Damon:
"Steven Soderbergh's movies don't leave any fat on the bone. They're lean and fast. For a subject like this, that pace mirrors the progression of the infection itself and how things spiral very quickly out of control, so you want that sense of acceleration. He knows exactly how to keep multiple threads alive and cut back to each one at the right time. The story really moves."
Kate Winslet:
"You're accessing the world of this epidemic through human channels."
Producer Michael Shamberg:
"It shows not only how a virus could infiltrate the population in staggering numbers but how that could affect day-to-day life, when the familiar suddenly becomes unfamiliar and you're afraid to go back into your own house…”
“Experts assign a tipping point to such scenarios: measured in days, it's the point at which society begins to break down. Stores run out of food; banks, schools and gas stations close; borders are locked down.”
Producer Stacey Sher:
“Renowned for his streamlined process, Soderbergh once again functioned simultaneously as director and cinematographer, using the latest version RED digital camera that utilizes available light.”
"He also cuts every night so you can see what you've just worked on….As much as Hong Kong is known for guerilla filmmaking, the crew joked that Steven out-guerilla'd the guerilla filmmakers."
Production designer Howard Cummings:
"We created a huge research website that anyone on the movie could access if they needed to know what kind of uniforms the police wear in Kowloon or what an N100 mask is."
Screenwriter Scott S. Burns:
"Science, medicine and communication have improved, but with that has come a greater amount of risk because of how quickly we travel from continent to continent. That's what [we] wanted to capture with this film—how connected we are. There are infrastructures in place to help us, but in the end a lot depends upon our protecting each other."
