Bubble (2006)

Interesting facts

Bubble is a 2005 American crime drama film directed by Steven Soderbergh about three low-paid doll factory workers, one of whom is murdered. Soderbergh also shot and edited the film under the pseudonyms Peter Andrews and Mary Ann Bernard, taken from his father's given names and his mother's maiden name, respectively. The film was shot on high-definition video.

Production

Steven Soderbergh and Coleman Hough wanted to do a film that involved a love triangle and a factory setting. As they realized the characters would be a focus of the story, they decided the other major element would be the film's setting. In her research on Midwestern factories, Hough learned about a doll-parts factory in Belpre, Ohio. Said Soderbergh, "It's one of the last three [doll-part factories] in the US; the rest have moved to China.

Hough, location manager Carlos Moore, and casting director Carmen Cuba scouted the area and got to know the locals, which led to the casting of nonprofessional actors. Debbie Doebereiner was cast when Cuba saw her working the drive-through window at a Parkersburg KFC.

Filming took 18 days. Much of the actors' dialogue was improvisational.

Soderberg noted (in the Director's Comments) that he often had the actors seated or in relatively static poses in order to reduce blocking, and hence, the demands on the actors.

Hough said the outline of the script started out with the reveal of a brain tumor as the cause for Martha's irrational behavior. Soderbergh shot an ending scene where Martha is taken to a hospital after fainting in her jail cell, where she is told by a doctor that a CAT scan has revealed she has a severely malignant tumor. The doctor then explains to her that the tumor could cause blackouts and highly abnormal behavior.

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