Film School Rules for Hospitality Design - Bobby Carey

I didn’t switch careers; I changed sets.

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I studied a Bachelor of Film Production in Sydney in the 2000s while earning my rent making cocktails during the city’s small-bars boom. That mix left me with a habit I can’t shake: I don’t design spaces, I direct them.Making a bar and making a film run on the same engine. Both start with a script and a schedule. Both are about directing attention, emotion, and time.

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The magic isn’t the set build; it’s the blocking, the cues, the edit, and the discipline to cut what doesn’t serve the scene. Aim for the centre seat in a well-tuned cinema: if your venue can replicate that seat, it will hold every other one.The overlaps are practical, not cute.

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Soundtrack → music. Script → menu. Actors → bartenders. Costume → uniform. Lighting → lighting. Catering → staff meal. Press junket → outreach. Oscars → 50 Best. First AD → barback.Live a build and you know it runs deeper: producer → GM; cinematographer → lighting designer; production designer → interiors & OS&E; continuity → ops manager; location scout → site walks.

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From pre- to post-production, the choices are daily. Casting the lead is hiring the head bartender. Wardrobe is uniform trials until pockets, fabric and seams behave at speed. Production is blocking and marks so bodies pass easily and the guest’s eyeline remains clean. Post is the edit: trim menu copy until every line earns its place; set colour temperature, brightness and shadow; cut again after soft opens.

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I call this the Parallax Standard: the room must hold the frame from any seat, not just the good ones. Guests land where life puts them; edge two-top, end stool, back row by the door, so the scene has to play cleanly everywhere. Check sightline, faces, level and legibility; move the culprit, not the guest; lock it in and open with confidence.

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Marks & Cues:

- Sit in every seat before and during opening. Kill visual noise: hide bright POS screens; remove bins from sightlines; block direct views into the entry door.

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- Light for faces: warm white 2700–3000 K; dim until faces read without glass glare. Let the back bar glow; never throw a harsh source into eyes.

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- Write the Music brief and hold it. Aim for 65–70 dB at centre room with brief peaks under 75. Friday, packed blues bar: a birthday nudges the playlist into chart; one table films, three ask for the bill.

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I’ve seen operators let staff go for veering off-brief. Keep the lane.Carry it into the toilets; scent, lighting, mirror height, latch feel, a soft door close. No off-brand surprises.

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Everything earns its frame, or it’s on the cutting room floor.