{
 "slug": "laughter",
 "name": "Laughter",
 "category": "expression",
 "group": "Joy",
 "media": [
  "image",
  "video"
 ],
 "checked": "2026-10-13",
 "effect": "Real, uncontrolled amusement the viewer wants to share.",
 "use_when": "Comedy beats, friends, a product moment that delights.",
 "phrase": "the laugh starts in the chest, the shoulders shake, the eyes narrow into creases, the head tips back once and comes forward, a grin stays after the sound stops",
 "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": "Joy / Laughter",
   "text": "The eyes squeeze into crinkled slits, the mouth opens wide showing teeth, the head drops forward and tips back, and the shoulders bounce with each breath. The laugh settles into a wide lingering grin.",
   "credit": "Emotion Direction (seedance-emotion-direction.vercel.app)",
   "source_url": "https://seedance-emotion-media-1.vercel.app/videos/01-joy-laughter.mp4",
   "group": null,
   "intensity": "Explosive",
   "cue": "Laughter breaks loose",
   "shot": null,
   "family": "Joy",
   "aliases": "happy laugh excited amusement joyful",
   "media": {
    "video": "/media/emotion-direction/01-joy-laughter.mp4",
    "card": "/media/emotion-direction/01-joy-laughter-card.mp4",
    "poster": "/media/emotion-direction/01-joy-laughter.jpg",
    "card_poster": "/media/emotion-direction/01-joy-laughter-card.jpg",
    "width": 1280,
    "height": 720,
    "duration": 7.07
   }
  }
 ],
 "site_names": [],
 "related": [
  "relief",
  "awe"
 ],
 "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:** a breath escapes through the nose, the cheeks rise and the lips press shut to hold it in, the eyes stay amused\n- **Medium:** the laugh starts in the chest, the shoulders shake, the eyes narrow into creases, the head tips back once and comes forward, a grin stays after the sound stops\n- **Explosive:** the whole upper body folds forward, one hand slaps the table, eyes squeezed shut and wet at the corners, the laugh runs out of breath and restarts once",
 "shown_with": null,
 "url": "https://directorchair.ai/expression/laughter",
 "markdown": "https://directorchair.ai/expression/laughter.md",
 "prompts": {
  "nano-banana-pro": "[your subject] in [your setting]. The laugh starts in the chest, the shoulders shake, the eyes narrow into creases, the head tips back once and comes forward, a grin stays after the sound stops.\nReference clip (Joy / Laughter): https://directorchair.ai/media/emotion-direction/01-joy-laughter.mp4",
  "nano-banana-2": "[your subject] in [your setting]. The laugh starts in the chest, the shoulders shake, the eyes narrow into creases, the head tips back once and comes forward, a grin stays after the sound stops.\nReference clip (Joy / Laughter): https://directorchair.ai/media/emotion-direction/01-joy-laughter.mp4",
  "gpt-image": "A photograph of [your subject] in [your setting].\nPeople and framing: the laugh starts in the chest, the shoulders shake, the eyes narrow into creases, the head tips back once and comes forward, a grin stays after the sound stops\nExclusions: no extra text, no watermark, no logo.\nReference clip (Joy / Laughter): https://directorchair.ai/media/emotion-direction/01-joy-laughter.mp4",
  "seedream-5": "[your subject] in [your setting]. The laugh starts in the chest, the shoulders shake, the eyes narrow into creases, the head tips back once and comes forward, a grin stays after the sound stops.\nReference clip (Joy / Laughter): https://directorchair.ai/media/emotion-direction/01-joy-laughter.mp4",
  "seedance-2.5": "Scene: [your subject] in [your setting].\nShot 1 (0:00 to 0:05): The laugh starts in the chest, the shoulders shake, the eyes narrow into creases, the head tips back once and comes forward, a grin stays after the sound stops. The eyes squeeze into crinkled slits, the mouth opens wide showing teeth, the head drops forward and tips back, and the shoulders bounce with each breath. The laugh settles into a wide lingering grin.\nReference clip (Joy / Laughter): https://directorchair.ai/media/emotion-direction/01-joy-laughter.mp4",
  "seedance-2.0": "Scene: [your subject] in [your setting].\nShot 1: The laugh starts in the chest, the shoulders shake, the eyes narrow into creases, the head tips back once and comes forward, a grin stays after the sound stops. The eyes squeeze into crinkled slits, the mouth opens wide showing teeth, the head drops forward and tips back, and the shoulders bounce with each breath. The laugh settles into a wide lingering grin.\nReference clip (Joy / Laughter): https://directorchair.ai/media/emotion-direction/01-joy-laughter.mp4",
  "kling-3": "[your subject]. The laugh starts in the chest, the shoulders shake, the eyes narrow into creases, the head tips back once and comes forward, a grin stays after the sound stops. The scene is [your setting].\nReference clip (Joy / Laughter): https://directorchair.ai/media/emotion-direction/01-joy-laughter.mp4",
  "veo-3.1": "[your subject] in [your setting]. The laugh starts in the chest, the shoulders shake, the eyes narrow into creases, the head tips back once and comes forward, a grin stays after the sound stops. Framing and subject stay as in the start image.\nReference clip (Joy / Laughter): https://directorchair.ai/media/emotion-direction/01-joy-laughter.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."
 }
}