Pain

A sharp physical jolt the viewer almost feels.

Use when: Sport, injury prevention, health, comedy of small accidents.

Prompt instructions

Scene: [your subject] in [your setting]. Shot 1 (0:00 to 0:05): He sucks air in through clenched teeth, screws his eyes shut, jerks his head away from the pain and hunches that shoulder up, and his face stays tight for a long moment before it softens a little. The eyes clamp shut, the teeth bare in a hard grimace, the head snaps to one side, and one shoulder rises toward the ear. The face stays contracted before easing only slightly. Reference clip (Pain / Wince): https://directorchair.ai/media/emotion-direction/07-pain-wince.mp4

Download reference

Seedance 2.5 reads labelled blocks with timecodes.

Reference clip by Emotion Direction, shown with permission.

SubjectSetting

Say it like this

He sucks air in through clenched teeth, screws his eyes shut, jerks his head away from the pain and hunches that shoulder up, and his face stays tight for a long moment before it softens a little.

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 quick flinch, the eyes shut for a moment, a breath in through the teeth
Medium: he sucks air in through clenched teeth, screws his eyes shut, jerks his head away from the pain and hunches that shoulder up, and his face stays tight for a long moment before it softens a little
Explosive: doubling over, a hand grabbing the injured spot, a cry cut short, rocking on the spot

The maker's card

The eyes clamp shut, the teeth bare in a hard grimace, the head snaps to one side, and one shoulder rises toward the ear. The face stays contracted before easing only slightly.Explosive. Emotion Direction (seedance-emotion-direction.vercel.app)

Effort that keeps failing; very relatable.FrustrationPrompt

Fear that will not let go; the viewer feels the threat.TerrorPrompt

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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