# Anxiety People and places / Expression / Fear. Checked 2026-10-13. Restless worry that will not settle. - Use when: Problem statements, waiting for a result, relatable everyday stress. - Phrase: 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 - Page: https://directorchair.ai/expression/anxiety - JSON: https://directorchair.ai/api/expression/anxiety.json ## 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) ## 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 ## Reference: Anxiety (Medium) > 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. Credit: Emotion Direction (seedance-emotion-direction.vercel.app). Source: https://seedance-emotion-media-3.vercel.app/videos/18-anxiety.mp4 Clip: https://directorchair.ai/media/emotion-direction/18-anxiety.mp4 Poster: https://directorchair.ai/media/emotion-direction/18-anxiety.jpg ## Prompts ### Nano Banana Pro ``` [your subject] in [your setting]. 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. Reference clip (Anxiety): https://directorchair.ai/media/emotion-direction/18-anxiety.mp4 ``` ### Nano Banana 2 ``` [your subject] in [your setting]. 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. Reference clip (Anxiety): https://directorchair.ai/media/emotion-direction/18-anxiety.mp4 ``` ### GPT Image 2.5 ``` A photograph of [your subject] in [your setting]. People and framing: 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 Exclusions: no extra text, no watermark, no logo. Reference clip (Anxiety): https://directorchair.ai/media/emotion-direction/18-anxiety.mp4 ``` ### Seedream 5 ``` [your subject] in [your setting]. 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. Reference clip (Anxiety): https://directorchair.ai/media/emotion-direction/18-anxiety.mp4 ``` ### Seedance 2.5 ``` 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 ``` ### Seedance 2.0 ``` Scene: [your subject] in [your setting]. Shot 1: 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 ``` ### Kling 3.0 ``` [your subject]. 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 scene is [your setting]. Reference clip (Anxiety): https://directorchair.ai/media/emotion-direction/18-anxiety.mp4 ``` ### Veo 3.1 ``` [your subject] in [your setting]. 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. Framing and subject stay as in the start image. Reference clip (Anxiety): https://directorchair.ai/media/emotion-direction/18-anxiety.mp4 ``` ## Look further - https://seedance-emotion-direction.vercel.app/ : a clip of this emotion performed in Seedance 2.5 (link only) ## Goes well with - Terror: https://directorchair.ai/expression/terror - Suspicion: https://directorchair.ai/expression/suspicion ## Source 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 Text CC BY 4.0, Director Chair (directorchair.ai). Reference clips and their card texts belong to their makers.