NEW PITCH IDEA
A F T E R TA L K I N G W I T H M AT T

SETTINGS/LOCATION
• In a victim’s kitchen (bloody, cleaning away the crime)
• Richard Chase was arrested in 1977, so the character will fit the era but set will be
modernized
• Signs of serious harm having occurred.
• Modernized kitchen but still crime
• Bloody knives
• Two locations (victim’s house/kitchen and door scene of police entering)
• Color palette fits in with the 70’s so burnt orange, cream, brown etc.
• Lighting is cold, desaturated
• Light on his face makes him appear washed out
• It’s all fairly practical. Two locations only needed

WHAT WILL OUR SETTING LOOK LIKE?

CHARACTERS
Who are they?
• There will be someone playing Richard Chase (serial killer) and two people will be playing police.
How would they look on screen?
• Richard Chase will appear unkept and dirty. He had longish, unbrushed hair and a moustache. He will
wear a fairly basic outfit, fitting to the era. (see next slide).
• Overall just appearing extremely an extremely neglected appearance wise. This will mean that the
audience can understand, from the outset of the film, that
• Richard Chase is an old, troubled man, with priorities elsewhere than his appearance to others.
• He’s been able to keep getting away from the police
Costumes and props for them?
• Blood stained cutlery

WHAT WILL
OUR
CHARACTER
LOOK LIKE?
What will our
character look
like?

NARRATIVE
What happens in the opening sequence?
• There will be no dialogue in the kitchen scenes with Chase, but just an old radio
playing contrapuntal music. However, whenever the scene is cut to a shot of the
police car, on their way to arrest him for the several murders he’s committed.
• These two minutes will show the moments before the police storm into the victim’s
house. He begins tidying up the kitchen and getting rid of evidence to make it look like
he’s been gone for ages.
What would be appealing?
• This opening sequence will be appealing to an audience as it will bring in
audiences from the 70s who perhaps remember this exact case happening. It
will also appeal to those who enjoy the horror genre/ are interested in serial
killers.
Why will the audience want to carry on watching the film?
• The audience will want to carry on watching the film as they want to
know how Richard Chase reached this point in his life. They will want to
uncover his childhood and upbringing, as well as previous murders he'd
committed.

DOESN’T GET CAUGHT
Also, we decided that he doesn’t get caught otherwise the story would be ruined. So
there’ll be a knock on the door and crosscutting between the police car and Chase.
When there’s a knock at the door, Chase runs away and the police just miss him.

EASY TO UNDERSTAND
• Set in a kitchen (bloody, victim’s kitchen)
• Minimal dialogue when police enter – use hand signals and use banging on door
calling victims name etc.
• Police lights seen through window
• Chase is calm, he slowly cleans his hands and wipes down knives.
• He slowly begins to leave unaffected by the lights and sirens.
• Perhaps one line of dialogue by police such as “we just missed him or he was there”.

LIGHTS
There's a shot of police about to break the door into a flat, the audience think that it’s
Chase’s flat. Chase opens a door at the same time as the police but they’re in different
locations so the police are in the wrong flat or the victims house. The rest of the film is
about the police tracking down Chase to arrest him but Chase is sneaky and he’s very
difficult to catch due to his personality being like the 70’s i.e. doesn’t have a phone, or
social media.

CAMERA SHOTS (SPECIFIC SHOT TYPES,
MOVEMENTS, CAMERA ANGLES)
• Handheld shot- authenticity, feeling of urgency, wanting to stay hidden.
• High angle shots- seems as if someone is watching from the cupboards above (like
CCTV)
• Extreme close up shots of Chase's eyes/fingers

EDITING TECHNIQUES (PACE, VISUAL
EFFECTS, TRANSITIONS)
• Use of cross cutting between Chase and the police car creating a sense of urgency
and hurry.
• Long takes creating a slower pace in the scenes with Chase, but shorter takes with the
police car as they are hurrying

SOUND (MUSIC, FOLEY)
• Use of contrapuntal music on an old radio.