Crying

Composure breaking; raw and very human.

Use when: Emotional storytelling, reunions, charity.

Prompt instructions

Scene: [your subject] in [your setting]. Shot 1 (0:00 to 0:05): The eyes and nose redden, tears run over the lower lids, the breath stutters, the mouth pulls square, the chin crumples and shakes, the shoulders start to move. The eyes and nose flush red, tears spill over the lower lid, the breath catches in visible stutters, the mouth pulls into a square shape, and the chin crumples and trembles. The shoulders begin to shake. Reference clip (Crying): https://directorchair.ai/media/emotion-direction/06-crying.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 eyes and nose redden, tears run over the lower lids, the breath stutters, the mouth pulls square, the chin crumples and shakes, the shoulders start to move.

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 eyes glaze and redden, the lips press together, one hard swallow
Medium: the eyes and nose redden, tears run over the lower lids, the breath stutters, the mouth pulls square, the chin crumples and shakes, the shoulders start to move
Explosive: the face folds completely, loud uneven sobs, the body curls forward, hands over the eyes, the shoulders heave

The maker's card

The eyes and nose flush red, tears spill over the lower lid, the breath catches in visible stutters, the mouth pulls into a square shape, and the chin crumples and trembles. The shoulders begin to shake.Explosive. Emotion Direction (seedance-emotion-direction.vercel.app)

SadnessPrompt

ReliefPrompt

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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