{
 "slug": "terror",
 "name": "Terror",
 "category": "expression",
 "group": "Fear",
 "media": [
  "image",
  "video"
 ],
 "checked": "2026-10-13",
 "effect": "Fear that will not let go; the viewer feels the threat.",
 "use_when": "Horror, thriller, a stunt with real stakes.",
 "phrase": "the brows lift and pull together, the eyes stay wide and unblinking, the mouth stretches open, the chin pulls back, the chest rises and falls fast and shallow",
 "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": "Terror",
   "text": "The eyebrows pull up and together, the eyes lock wide open without blinking, the mouth stretches open, the chin tucks back, and the chest rises and falls with fast, shallow breaths.",
   "credit": "Emotion Direction (seedance-emotion-direction.vercel.app)",
   "source_url": "https://seedance-emotion-media-1.vercel.app/videos/03-terror.mp4",
   "group": null,
   "intensity": "Explosive",
   "cue": "Fear refuses to release",
   "shot": null,
   "family": "Fear",
   "aliases": "scared fear panic horror terrified",
   "media": {
    "video": "/media/emotion-direction/03-terror.mp4",
    "card": "/media/emotion-direction/03-terror-card.mp4",
    "poster": "/media/emotion-direction/03-terror.jpg",
    "card_poster": "/media/emotion-direction/03-terror-card.jpg",
    "width": 1280,
    "height": 720,
    "duration": 7.07
   }
  }
 ],
 "site_names": [],
 "related": [
  "anxiety",
  "shock"
 ],
 "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 breath stops, the eyes fix on one point, the hands go still\n- **Medium:** the brows lift and pull together, the eyes stay wide and unblinking, the mouth stretches open, the chin pulls back, the chest rises and falls fast and shallow\n- **Explosive:** the body presses back against the wall, a scream with no sound, the hands claw at the surface behind, the eyes never leave the threat",
 "shown_with": null,
 "url": "https://directorchair.ai/expression/terror",
 "markdown": "https://directorchair.ai/expression/terror.md",
 "prompts": {
  "nano-banana-pro": "[your subject] in [your setting]. The brows lift and pull together, the eyes stay wide and unblinking, the mouth stretches open, the chin pulls back, the chest rises and falls fast and shallow.\nReference clip (Terror): https://directorchair.ai/media/emotion-direction/03-terror.mp4",
  "nano-banana-2": "[your subject] in [your setting]. The brows lift and pull together, the eyes stay wide and unblinking, the mouth stretches open, the chin pulls back, the chest rises and falls fast and shallow.\nReference clip (Terror): https://directorchair.ai/media/emotion-direction/03-terror.mp4",
  "gpt-image": "A photograph of [your subject] in [your setting].\nPeople and framing: the brows lift and pull together, the eyes stay wide and unblinking, the mouth stretches open, the chin pulls back, the chest rises and falls fast and shallow\nExclusions: no extra text, no watermark, no logo.\nReference clip (Terror): https://directorchair.ai/media/emotion-direction/03-terror.mp4",
  "seedream-5": "[your subject] in [your setting]. The brows lift and pull together, the eyes stay wide and unblinking, the mouth stretches open, the chin pulls back, the chest rises and falls fast and shallow.\nReference clip (Terror): https://directorchair.ai/media/emotion-direction/03-terror.mp4",
  "seedance-2.5": "Scene: [your subject] in [your setting].\nShot 1 (0:00 to 0:05): The brows lift and pull together, the eyes stay wide and unblinking, the mouth stretches open, the chin pulls back, the chest rises and falls fast and shallow. The eyebrows pull up and together, the eyes lock wide open without blinking, the mouth stretches open, the chin tucks back, and the chest rises and falls with fast, shallow breaths.\nReference clip (Terror): https://directorchair.ai/media/emotion-direction/03-terror.mp4",
  "seedance-2.0": "Scene: [your subject] in [your setting].\nShot 1: The brows lift and pull together, the eyes stay wide and unblinking, the mouth stretches open, the chin pulls back, the chest rises and falls fast and shallow. The eyebrows pull up and together, the eyes lock wide open without blinking, the mouth stretches open, the chin tucks back, and the chest rises and falls with fast, shallow breaths.\nReference clip (Terror): https://directorchair.ai/media/emotion-direction/03-terror.mp4",
  "kling-3": "[your subject]. The brows lift and pull together, the eyes stay wide and unblinking, the mouth stretches open, the chin pulls back, the chest rises and falls fast and shallow. The scene is [your setting].\nReference clip (Terror): https://directorchair.ai/media/emotion-direction/03-terror.mp4",
  "veo-3.1": "[your subject] in [your setting]. The brows lift and pull together, the eyes stay wide and unblinking, the mouth stretches open, the chin pulls back, the chest rises and falls fast and shallow. Framing and subject stay as in the start image.\nReference clip (Terror): https://directorchair.ai/media/emotion-direction/03-terror.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."
 }
}