Halloween
Dive Bar, Production Design

IMDb

On Halloween in a Dominican-owned Brooklyn dive bar facing NYC gentrification, misfit regulars get locked inside after discovering a dead body. The night erupts into an absurd, culture-soaked whodunnit where everyone has secrets—and everyone is a suspect. Filmed on location in New York City, the Production Designer transformed a standard dive bar into a colorful, maximalist world that blended Dominican influences, Halloween excess, and a DIY aesthetic inspired by the artistic culture of Bushwick, Brooklyn.

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The set design created opportunities for varied camera angles and added dimension to the shots through layers of texture, including spiderwebs stretched across the space, oversized spiders hanging from the ceiling, colorful masks hung on the walls, flowers dangling from light fixtures, and a giant skeleton in the corner of the room. Vintage fabrics were layered throughout to reinforce the bar’s longstanding presence and Dominican ownership. Custom props were made to enhance the characters’ Halloween costumes, while remnants of the bar patrons’ costumes were scattered throughout the space. These pieces gave the actors objects to play with, helping the set feel active and lived-in while providing opportunities for comedic moments.

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Lighting played an important role in the production design. The movie was shot with two cameras covering 360 degrees around the bar, so lighting had to be practically integrated into the set to work from multiple angles. When the power goes out in the story, the lighting shifts to candles and battery-operated practicals strategically placed throughout the space. LED signs appeared in the background as subliminal messages, including "Beware" and "Babe," adding humor and foreshadowing while contributing to the colorful glow of the bar.

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A custom-made Haunted House sign and accompanying set gave the characters a distinctly different world to enter at key points in the story. While still embracing the DIY style, the Haunted House felt more intentionally theatrical and eerie, shifting into cooler blue and green tones. A graveyard and coffin anchored the back of the set, surrounded by fog and glow-in-the-dark paint. Interactive set pieces included unexpected jump scares, giving the actors opportunities to engage with the environment.

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Across the sets, the production design was tactile, colorful, and distinctly Brooklyn, reflecting the bar’s Dominican ownership and history. Set decoration, props, practical lighting, and custom-built elements created a unique world for the film while giving the actors something to inhabit and play off of.