Goodbye Christopher Robin

Director

Simon Curtis

Studio

Fox Searchlight Pictures

Goodbye Christopher Robin is a 2017 British biographical drama film about the lives of Winnie-the-Pooh creator A. A. Milne and his family, especially his son Christopher Robin. It stars Domhnall Gleeson, Margot Robbie, and Kelly Macdonald. At one point in the film the parents of Chistopher Robin travel to New York.

Atomic Arts were pleased to be awarded all of the VFX for this show. The director gave Atomic Arts digital matte painting team the image below to build the background for the cocktail sequence from.

Atomic’s photogrammetry department used Google Earth to find the exact location this historic photo was taken from. They created a 2.5D map based on the landscape of Park Row in New York during the war. Getting the textures of some of the key historic building that were visible pre post war boom and modern sky rise buildings proved tricky.

For the PTSD battle flashbacks Atomic Arts added flies, fires and smoke as well as extending the practical set for some shots. Needing snow to flow upwards is not something you can do in live action (yet). Atomic’s VFX department were instrumental in creating the look and feel of this sequence and although a lot of snow was put on the set, we were responsible for continuing the backgrounds and changing the weather to match a winters day. Adding snow particles and mist along the way.