Steven Soderbergh’s film about a worldwide viral outbreak, “Contagion,” is one of the most-watched movies due to the Coronavirus panic. Read on some interesting cinematography facts about this movie.

“Contagion” is booming due to  COVID-19

Not all movie business is losing because of COVID 19 (Coronavirus). As a result of curiosity, Steven Soderbergh’s 2011 movie Contagion is now the second-hottest movie in the Warner Bros catalog. Moreover, Business Insider reports that the film, which is about a pandemic that threatens to wipe out much of humanity, has been surging up the charts on iTunes, and also has increased in piracy. Every other movie in the top 20 was released last year. Directed by Steven Soderbergh and starring Matt Damon, Jude Law, and more, “Contagion” is about a pandemic that threatens humanity. The MEV-1 virus in the movie is composed of a bat and pig viral strains. Coincidentally, at the end of the film, a sample of the virus is stored along with samples of H1N1 (which originated in pigs), and SARS (believed to have originated in bats).

Soderbergh once again functioned simultaneously as director and cinematographer by using the latest version RED digital camera (RED One MX)

Contagion was shot on the RED One MX

Contagion was wholly shot using the RED One MX. Director Steven Soderbergh is known for being an early adopter of a new piece of technology. Soderbergh loves to be the first to try new cameras even on expensive productions shooting feature films. Before that, Soderbergh filmed all of The Girlfriend Experience (2009) on a Red One camera, which has retailed for $4000—a relatively inexpensive camera for a movie produced for $1.3 million. Recently, Soderbergh filmed the entirety of Unsane (2018) on an iPhone 7 Plus with its 4K digital camera using the app FiLMiC Pro. He then filmed the entirety of 2019’s High Flying Bird on an iPhone 8. Lastly, Soderbergh is the first to shoot feature film (Let Them All Talk) entirely on the forthcoming RED Komodo.

Contagion’s production: RED and IMAX

Production on “Contagion” began with principal photography in Hong Kong in September 2010 and continued in Chicago, Atlanta, and San Francisco, with stops in London and Geneva. Soderbergh once again functioned simultaneously as director and cinematographer by using the latest version RED digital camera (RED One MX). The movie was opposed to being the first shot on a pre-production model of RED Epic. However, the Epics weren’t ready for use in an extensive high-end environment at that time, so the production has decided to stick with the RED One MX, which Soderbergh is well familiar with.

Furthermore, It was the first film of Steven Soderbergh to be released in the IMAX format. If I’m not mistaken, this actually was the first film shot digitally to be screened on an IMAX theater. The first release date was: 9 September 2011 (USA).

Watch the trailer below: