Anxiety

Restless worry that will not settle.

Use when: Problem statements, waiting for a result, relatable everyday stress.

Prompt instructions

Scene: [your subject] in [your setting]. Shot 1 (0:00 to 0:05): The brows stay knotted, the eyes dart left and right, the lower lip is caught between the teeth, the breath is quick and shallow, the hands grip each other while the weight shifts foot to foot. The eyebrows stay knitted, the eyes flick rapidly from side to side, the lower lip pulls between the teeth, and breathing remains shallow and quick. The hands grip together as the weight keeps shifting. Reference clip (Anxiety): https://directorchair.ai/media/emotion-direction/18-anxiety.mp4

Download reference

Seedance 2.5 reads labelled blocks with timecodes.

Reference clip by Emotion Direction, shown with permission.

Your subjectYour setting

Say it like this

The brows stay knotted, the eyes dart left and right, the lower lip is caught between the teeth, the breath is quick and shallow, the hands grip each other while the weight shifts foot to foot.

Watch out

Never ask for a smile or for an emotion by name; describe the muscles. Asked-for smiles come back generated and forced.measured: Director Chair field notes on video prompting (client feedback, Aug 2026)
Put the trigger first (the door slams, she reads the message), then the performance. Without a trigger the reaction has no timing.practitioner: Dan Kieft and Higgsfield's tested prompts via Director Chair field notes on video prompting

Notes

Three intensities

Subtle: the thumb rubs the side of the finger, a lip bite, the eyes flick to the phone
Medium: the brows stay knotted, the eyes dart left and right, the lower lip is caught between the teeth, the breath is quick and shallow, the hands grip each other while the weight shifts foot to foot
Explosive: pacing in a small circle, both hands in the hair, the breath audible, the eyes darting to the door and back

The maker's card

The eyebrows stay knitted, the eyes flick rapidly from side to side, the lower lip pulls between the teeth, and breathing remains shallow and quick. The hands grip together as the weight keeps shifting.Medium. Emotion Direction (seedance-emotion-direction.vercel.app)

TerrorPrompt

SuspicionPrompt

Sources

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 Checked 2026-10-13.

Emotion Direction: a clip of this emotion performed in Seedance 2.5 (link only)

For agents: this card as markdown, as JSON.

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