Guilt

The weight of having done something wrong.

Use when: Confessions, honest brand stories, comedy of being caught.

Prompt instructions

Scene: [your subject] in [your setting]. Shot 1 (0:00 to 0:05): The mouth opens to speak and closes again, the gaze drops to the floor and stays there, the head lowers, the throat moves on a hard swallow, a hand rubs the back of the neck. The mouth opens but no words come. The eyes slide down and away, the head lowers, a hard swallow moves through the throat, and one hand reaches to the back of the neck. The gaze stays on the floor. Reference clip (Guilt): https://directorchair.ai/media/emotion-direction/20-guilt.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 mouth opens to speak and closes again, the gaze drops to the floor and stays there, the head lowers, the throat moves on a hard swallow, a hand rubs the back of the neck.

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 slide away from the other person, the lips tighten, a small swallow
Medium: the mouth opens to speak and closes again, the gaze drops to the floor and stays there, the head lowers, the throat moves on a hard swallow, a hand rubs the back of the neck
Explosive: the face turns fully away, both hands cover the mouth, the eyes squeeze shut, the shoulders curl in

The maker's card

The mouth opens but no words come. The eyes slide down and away, the head lowers, a hard swallow moves through the throat, and one hand reaches to the back of the neck. The gaze stays on the floor.Subtle. Emotion Direction (seedance-emotion-direction.vercel.app)

EmbarrassmentPrompt

SadnessPrompt

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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