Exhaustion

Nothing left; the body is done.

Use when: Problem statements, sport, late nights, work pressure.

Prompt instructions

Scene: [your subject] in [your setting]. Shot 1 (0:00 to 0:05): His eyes close for a second too long, his head nods forward and he pulls it back up, his mouth hangs a little open, he lets out one long empty breath, and his eyes open only halfway. The eyelids drag downward, a long blink stays closed too long, the head drifts down and lifts again slowly, the jaw hangs slack, and one long breath empties out. The eyes reopen only halfway. Reference clip (Exhaustion): https://directorchair.ai/media/emotion-direction/22-exhaustion.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

His eyes close for a second too long, his head nods forward and he pulls it back up, his mouth hangs a little open, he lets out one long empty breath, and his eyes open only halfway.

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: a heavy blink, the shoulders sag
Medium: his eyes close for a second too long, his head nods forward and he pulls it back up, his mouth hangs a little open, he lets out one long empty breath, and his eyes open only halfway
Explosive: the body slides down the wall to sit on the floor, the head back against it, the eyes closed, the arms limp

The maker's card

The eyelids drag downward, a long blink stays closed too long, the head drifts down and lifts again slowly, the jaw hangs slack, and one long breath empties out. The eyes reopen only halfway.Subtle. Emotion Direction (seedance-emotion-direction.vercel.app)

BoredomPrompt

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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