The document is a draft shooting script for a film called "Sleep Paralysis". It summarizes two key scenes. The first scene describes a killer cleaning up after a murder. The second scene takes place in a therapist's office, where a victim describes their experiences with sleep paralysis to their therapist, including feeling pressure on their chest and seeing a shadowy figure of a man. The therapist suggests the episodes are linked to panic attacks and prescribes medication to help the victim sleep.

1. Final Draft Shooting Script
SLEEP PARALYSIS
by Keeleigh Keane
December 2017

2. 1. INT. HOUSE 1 BATHROOM - NIGHT
SFX: FOOTSTEPS AND RUNNING WATER.
[Explain how the scene works in which the KILLER is
cleaning up after his most recent kill.]
2. INT. THERAPIST’S OFFICE - DAY
[Other directions to go here and perhaps at various
points of the script as you see fit.]
THERAPIST: “Take me through your first episode step-by-
step and how you were feeling at each point during this
episode.”
VICTIM: “The first thing I felt was that I couldn’t feel
anything…I tried moving but the best I could do was to
flutter my eyes. I then felt a sudden and strong
heaviness pushing down on top of my chest. I…I couldn’t
breathe. It felt like I was suffocating. That’s when I
saw it.”
THERAPIST: “Saw what, [name of victim]?”
VICTIM: “In the…darkness…it was hard to tell. Only
shapes at first and I was groggy with sleep. Then it
became clear…I saw a black silhouette of a man. Just the
outline. I couldn’t see his face.”
THERAPIST: “What makes you think it was a man, [name of
victim]?”
VICTIM: “Well, he was muscular, tall and…I just felt very
intimidated.”
THERAPIST: “And you’ve seen this man in every episode?”
VICTIM: “Yes, every episode I have. It’s exactly the
same. Some nights I don’t sleep because I’m afraid I
won’t wake up. I’ll be trapped in a nightmare forever.”
THERAPIST: “Yes, I imagine that would be very distressing
for you.”
[The therapist might then ask a series of other questions
about her symptoms that are accompanied by flashbacks of
the symptoms occurring. Here are some suggestions in
order of what may prove to be the most interesting to
film:

3. • I can’t believe I haven’t asked this before but do
you have a history of mental illness? (she explains
yes and may even tell a short anecdote about a
family member or two)
• Do you find that you experience hallucinations at
all or is it just in sleep that you see this man?
(she might see hallucinations as well, including a
silhouette of a demonic shape to throw the viewer
off the trail of there being a murderer)
• And how are your sleep patterns, generally? (she
might explain how difficult it is to get to sleep,
how she wakes at times in the middle of the night
and/or how she gets ‘snatches’ sleep at various
unusual points of the day)
• When is it that you experience these episodes – in
the middle of the night? (when falling asleep or
just waking up)
• Do you think it would be possible for you to wake
yourself up if you tried (she explains no)]
The therapist looks over at the clock.
THERAPIST: “Well, I’m afraid to say that our time is
almost up. Until our next appointment, I am going to
prescribe you some medication that should help to relax
and fall asleep. Try it out for the next week and during
our next session, we can see whether you’d like to
continue taking it, okay?”
VICTIM: “I guess? Do…do you think you know what it is?”
THERAPIST: “It’s a little early to tell just yet. I’m
aware of some potentially quite outlandish diagnoses but
I don’t want to get ahead of myself. As yet, I’m almost
entirely convinced it is linked with your panic attacks
and that these episodes are an extension of the neuroses
that we have discussed in the past.”
VICTIM: “Thank you. See you next week?”
THERAPIST: “See you next week [name of victim]. And if
you have any problems, please feel free to call the
office.”
VICTIM: “I will. Thanks again. Bye!”
The therapist smiles and see her out.
END SCENE

4. [Other possible scenes:
• Possible introduce another character who lives in
the house with the victim. This person could be
warning them that there are rumours of a killer
about. The victim explains that this is not helping
her fears at all and the other person shouldn’t be
teasing her like that. The other person says that
this may be a home invasion trend to spook people
for Halloween. “That would be the absolute worst
prank anyone could play on me right now. You do
know I’m in therapy, don’t you?” Later, after
discussing the victim’s fears of sleeping and
briefly mentioning what her therapist said, the
other person explains how she thinks it is sleep
paralysis. She may even research this.
• There may be another scene in which the night
terrors occur again. The other person may comfort
them. There could be some footage of a possible
house invasion mixed in.
• When she returns to the therapist, he may well
explain that her fears of house invasion are what
caused the episode. The session then involves some
hypnotherapy or light therapy. He might hypnotise
her into a semi-comatose state with the aim of
getting her to write down what she is experiencing.
He is actually getting her to write a suicide note.
• The final scene involves her attack at the hands of
the ‘monster’ which is later revealed to be the
therapist using a tracheotomy tube to force pills
into her to give her an overdose.
• Any other footage might explain other details e.g.
the calendar, other flashbacks etc.