The Windsor Sessions

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Horror/Suspence
Feature Film

Overview

Six psychiatric patients endure mysterious therapies while in the care of a sadistic psychiatrist.

After each suffering their own separate emotional traumas Ellen, Tim, Nolan, Reginald and Judy find themselves in the care of enigmatic Dr. Windsor Ph. D.

For documentary purposes Dr. Windsor has videotaped his sessions with these patients; it is this footage that has been cut together to create The Windsor Sessions.

Read the Story Synopsis Here

Production Notes

90min Feature Film

Budget > $0.00 CND

The Windsor Sessions is a high-concept/low-budget feature film. The concept has been developed to allow the characters to carry an intricate, fast-paced narrative through dialogue and strong character development. Practical in-story camera work and lighting capture the edgy realism of the “found” tapes with an absolute minimum of production expense.

The story is told stage-play like with a minimum of locations and props.

The story combines elements of psychological suspense with subtle undertones of dark fantasy. Dialogue of the character’s personal revelations carries the story in a chilling and effective manner.

Conceptually the movie is created through the use of “found” mini-digital videocassette tapes that have been cut together in a quasi-documentary fashion. The camera work seeks a sincere amateur’s aesthetic to lend the film a sense of authenticity.

The High Concept at work is the idea that telling a great story requires only that the storytellers find their voice and step before the camera. Through purity and sincerity the ritual of the story will find its way to the audience.

Bold acting, creative camera manipulation and shrewd editing will make The Windsor Sessions a classic of independent cinema.

Character Sketches:

	Judy Acute depression stemming from recent death of both parents Judy’s therapy is prematurely terminated. Response to The Bridge Session caused a severe psychotic break after she envisioned herself being attacked by headless men. Unable to coherently articulate speech she has taken to drawing the disturbing images that she had encountered in her “otherworld.” Though she has had no contact with the other patients in Dr. Windsor’s care, her drawings bear a striking similarity to scenarios described by those other patients.
	Ellen Chronic depression stemming from childhood trauma Ellen completed four of the five sessions under Dr. Windsor’s therapy. It was during the session entitled The Dark Woods that she encountered the greatest difficulties. Visions of psychological phantasms complying with Jungian archetypes impeded her therapeutic progress. Essentially she was unable to defeat the “shadow demons” of her deep psychological landscape. She remains in therapy exhibiting additional sleep disorder symptoms.
	Tim Adult onset of schizophrenia Tim completed five of the six sessions with Dr. Windsor. During the sessions Tim’s condition saw startling shifts of personalities related to his exploration of his “otherworld.” Although Dr. Windsor sited this as clinical progress Tim withdrew from the program dissatisfied with the results. Of the five he was the only one to terminate his therapy.
	Nolan Chronic depression Fatality. Though no correlation can be found between the treatment and Nolan’s death, the video taped session entitled “The Pit” shows that he died of massive heart failure during the final stages of his session.
	Reginald Antisocial personality disorder manifesting in extreme anger and mood swings Reginald successfully completed all stages of Dr. Windsor’s therapy. Given a clean bill of health by the doctors and staff of the facility he was discharged back into society.
	Tommy Wild Child Tommy was discovered in an abandoned building in the Canadian wilderness. He had apparently been without human contact for many years. Considering the fact that he has severe physical handicaps including spinal disfigurements that impede his ability to walk, how he managed to survive for so long is a total mystery. His intellectual development suggests that had been without human contact for much of his life and has only a rudimentary ability to speak. Though in one videotaped session with Dr. Windsor he was capable of a prolonged conversation. During this conversation he suggested knowledge of many surprising things, including personal details of other patients in Dr. Windsor’s care.