# Boredom People and places / Expression / Physical. Checked 2026-10-13. Attention draining away; time dragging. - Use when: Problem statements (the old way is dull), comedy, meetings. - Phrase: the lids grow heavy, the gaze drifts out of focus, one blink lasts too long, the jaw slackens, a long sigh sinks the chest, the head lowers and the body goes still - Page: https://directorchair.ai/expression/boredom - JSON: https://directorchair.ai/api/expression/boredom.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 gaze drifts off, a slow blink - **Medium:** the lids grow heavy, the gaze drifts out of focus, one blink lasts too long, the jaw slackens, a long sigh sinks the chest, the head lowers and the body goes still - **Explosive:** the head slides down onto the hand and then onto the table, the eyes close, a yawn that does not end ## Reference: Boredom (Subtle) > The eyelids grow heavy, the gaze drifts and loses focus, a slow blink lasts too long, the jaw slackens, and a long sigh lowers the chest. The head sinks and the body settles into stillness. Credit: Emotion Direction (seedance-emotion-direction.vercel.app). Source: https://seedance-emotion-media-2.vercel.app/videos/12-boredom.mp4 Clip: https://directorchair.ai/media/emotion-direction/12-boredom.mp4 Poster: https://directorchair.ai/media/emotion-direction/12-boredom.jpg ## Prompts ### Nano Banana Pro ``` [your subject] in [your setting]. The lids grow heavy, the gaze drifts out of focus, one blink lasts too long, the jaw slackens, a long sigh sinks the chest, the head lowers and the body goes still. Reference clip (Boredom): https://directorchair.ai/media/emotion-direction/12-boredom.mp4 ``` ### Nano Banana 2 ``` [your subject] in [your setting]. The lids grow heavy, the gaze drifts out of focus, one blink lasts too long, the jaw slackens, a long sigh sinks the chest, the head lowers and the body goes still. Reference clip (Boredom): https://directorchair.ai/media/emotion-direction/12-boredom.mp4 ``` ### GPT Image 2.5 ``` A photograph of [your subject] in [your setting]. People and framing: the lids grow heavy, the gaze drifts out of focus, one blink lasts too long, the jaw slackens, a long sigh sinks the chest, the head lowers and the body goes still Exclusions: no extra text, no watermark, no logo. Reference clip (Boredom): https://directorchair.ai/media/emotion-direction/12-boredom.mp4 ``` ### Seedream 5 ``` [your subject] in [your setting]. The lids grow heavy, the gaze drifts out of focus, one blink lasts too long, the jaw slackens, a long sigh sinks the chest, the head lowers and the body goes still. Reference clip (Boredom): https://directorchair.ai/media/emotion-direction/12-boredom.mp4 ``` ### Seedance 2.5 ``` Scene: [your subject] in [your setting]. Shot 1 (0:00 to 0:05): The lids grow heavy, the gaze drifts out of focus, one blink lasts too long, the jaw slackens, a long sigh sinks the chest, the head lowers and the body goes still. The eyelids grow heavy, the gaze drifts and loses focus, a slow blink lasts too long, the jaw slackens, and a long sigh lowers the chest. The head sinks and the body settles into stillness. Reference clip (Boredom): https://directorchair.ai/media/emotion-direction/12-boredom.mp4 ``` ### Seedance 2.0 ``` Scene: [your subject] in [your setting]. Shot 1: The lids grow heavy, the gaze drifts out of focus, one blink lasts too long, the jaw slackens, a long sigh sinks the chest, the head lowers and the body goes still. The eyelids grow heavy, the gaze drifts and loses focus, a slow blink lasts too long, the jaw slackens, and a long sigh lowers the chest. The head sinks and the body settles into stillness. Reference clip (Boredom): https://directorchair.ai/media/emotion-direction/12-boredom.mp4 ``` ### Kling 3.0 ``` [your subject]. The lids grow heavy, the gaze drifts out of focus, one blink lasts too long, the jaw slackens, a long sigh sinks the chest, the head lowers and the body goes still. The scene is [your setting]. Reference clip (Boredom): https://directorchair.ai/media/emotion-direction/12-boredom.mp4 ``` ### Veo 3.1 ``` [your subject] in [your setting]. The lids grow heavy, the gaze drifts out of focus, one blink lasts too long, the jaw slackens, a long sigh sinks the chest, the head lowers and the body goes still. Framing and subject stay as in the start image. Reference clip (Boredom): https://directorchair.ai/media/emotion-direction/12-boredom.mp4 ``` ## Look further - https://seedance-emotion-direction.vercel.app/ : a clip of this emotion performed in Seedance 2.5 (link only) ## Goes well with - Exhaustion: https://directorchair.ai/expression/exhaustion - Eye roll: https://directorchair.ai/expression/eye-roll ## 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.