{
 "slug": "guilt",
 "name": "Guilt",
 "category": "expression",
 "group": "Sadness",
 "media": [
  "image",
  "video"
 ],
 "checked": "2026-10-13",
 "effect": "The weight of having done something wrong.",
 "use_when": "Confessions, honest brand stories, comedy of being caught.",
 "phrase": "the mouth opens to speak and closes again, the gaze drops to the floor and stays there, the head lowers, the throat moves on a hard swallow, a hand rubs the back of the neck",
 "pitfalls": [
  {
   "text": "Never ask for a smile or for an emotion by name; describe the muscles. Asked-for smiles come back generated and forced.",
   "evidence": "measured",
   "source": "Director Chair field notes on video prompting (client feedback, Aug 2026)"
  },
  {
   "text": "Put the trigger first (the door slams, she reads the message), then the performance. Without a trigger the reaction has no timing.",
   "evidence": "practitioner",
   "source": "Dan Kieft and Higgsfield's tested prompts via Director Chair field notes on video prompting"
  }
 ],
 "per_model": [],
 "external_refs": [
  {
   "site": "emotion-direction",
   "url": "https://seedance-emotion-direction.vercel.app/",
   "what": "a clip of this emotion performed in Seedance 2.5 (link only)"
  }
 ],
 "licensed": [
  {
   "site": "emotion-direction",
   "name": "Guilt",
   "text": "The mouth opens but no words come. The eyes slide down and away, the head lowers, a hard swallow moves through the throat, and one hand reaches to the back of the neck. The gaze stays on the floor.",
   "credit": "Emotion Direction (seedance-emotion-direction.vercel.app)",
   "source_url": "https://seedance-emotion-media-3.vercel.app/videos/20-guilt.mp4",
   "group": null,
   "intensity": "Subtle",
   "cue": "The truth weighs down",
   "shot": null,
   "family": "Sadness",
   "aliases": "guilty remorse regret ashamed sorry",
   "media": {
    "video": "/media/emotion-direction/20-guilt.mp4",
    "card": "/media/emotion-direction/20-guilt-card.mp4",
    "poster": "/media/emotion-direction/20-guilt.jpg",
    "card_poster": "/media/emotion-direction/20-guilt-card.jpg",
    "width": 1280,
    "height": 720,
    "duration": 7.07
   }
  }
 ],
 "site_names": [],
 "related": [
  "embarrassment",
  "sadness"
 ],
 "rights": "own-work",
 "evidence": "film-craft",
 "source": {
  "url": null,
  "note": "Families, intensities and emotion names from Emotion Direction (names and structure only, read 13 Oct 2026); the directions are our own words in its grammar: body parts in the order they move, ending on what holds. Rules from Director Chair field notes on video prompting"
 },
 "body": "## Three intensities\n\n- **Subtle:** the eyes slide away from the other person, the lips tighten, a small swallow\n- **Medium:** the mouth opens to speak and closes again, the gaze drops to the floor and stays there, the head lowers, the throat moves on a hard swallow, a hand rubs the back of the neck\n- **Explosive:** the face turns fully away, both hands cover the mouth, the eyes squeeze shut, the shoulders curl in",
 "shown_with": null,
 "url": "https://directorchair.ai/expression/guilt",
 "markdown": "https://directorchair.ai/expression/guilt.md",
 "prompts": {
  "nano-banana-pro": "[your subject] in [your setting]. The mouth opens to speak and closes again, the gaze drops to the floor and stays there, the head lowers, the throat moves on a hard swallow, a hand rubs the back of the neck.\nReference clip (Guilt): https://directorchair.ai/media/emotion-direction/20-guilt.mp4",
  "nano-banana-2": "[your subject] in [your setting]. The mouth opens to speak and closes again, the gaze drops to the floor and stays there, the head lowers, the throat moves on a hard swallow, a hand rubs the back of the neck.\nReference clip (Guilt): https://directorchair.ai/media/emotion-direction/20-guilt.mp4",
  "gpt-image": "A photograph of [your subject] in [your setting].\nPeople and framing: the mouth opens to speak and closes again, the gaze drops to the floor and stays there, the head lowers, the throat moves on a hard swallow, a hand rubs the back of the neck\nExclusions: no extra text, no watermark, no logo.\nReference clip (Guilt): https://directorchair.ai/media/emotion-direction/20-guilt.mp4",
  "seedream-5": "[your subject] in [your setting]. The mouth opens to speak and closes again, the gaze drops to the floor and stays there, the head lowers, the throat moves on a hard swallow, a hand rubs the back of the neck.\nReference clip (Guilt): https://directorchair.ai/media/emotion-direction/20-guilt.mp4",
  "seedance-2.5": "Scene: [your subject] in [your setting].\nShot 1 (0:00 to 0:05): The mouth opens to speak and closes again, the gaze drops to the floor and stays there, the head lowers, the throat moves on a hard swallow, a hand rubs the back of the neck. The mouth opens but no words come. The eyes slide down and away, the head lowers, a hard swallow moves through the throat, and one hand reaches to the back of the neck. The gaze stays on the floor.\nReference clip (Guilt): https://directorchair.ai/media/emotion-direction/20-guilt.mp4",
  "seedance-2.0": "Scene: [your subject] in [your setting].\nShot 1: The mouth opens to speak and closes again, the gaze drops to the floor and stays there, the head lowers, the throat moves on a hard swallow, a hand rubs the back of the neck. The mouth opens but no words come. The eyes slide down and away, the head lowers, a hard swallow moves through the throat, and one hand reaches to the back of the neck. The gaze stays on the floor.\nReference clip (Guilt): https://directorchair.ai/media/emotion-direction/20-guilt.mp4",
  "kling-3": "[your subject]. The mouth opens to speak and closes again, the gaze drops to the floor and stays there, the head lowers, the throat moves on a hard swallow, a hand rubs the back of the neck. The scene is [your setting].\nReference clip (Guilt): https://directorchair.ai/media/emotion-direction/20-guilt.mp4",
  "veo-3.1": "[your subject] in [your setting]. The mouth opens to speak and closes again, the gaze drops to the floor and stays there, the head lowers, the throat moves on a hard swallow, a hand rubs the back of the neck. Framing and subject stay as in the start image.\nReference clip (Guilt): https://directorchair.ai/media/emotion-direction/20-guilt.mp4"
 },
 "licence": {
  "code": "MIT",
  "text": "CC BY 4.0",
  "third_party": "Clips and card texts inside a \"licensed\" block belong to their makers and are shown with permission and credit."
 }
}