[SCENE] A 30-second stylised 3D animated short. A handmade clay mug at the back…

[SCENE] A 30-second stylised 3D animated short. A handmade clay mug at the back of a kitchen cupboard waits to be chosen, while the perfect porcelain cups at the front are used every day. Warm, funny, quietly moving. 2.35:1. [REFERENCES] All three: reproduce 100%, appearance only, do not inherit the reference background, lighting or camera. PIP: a small lopsided handmade clay mug, wobbly uneven walls, rim not level, small crooked handle, patchy cornflower-blue glaze thick at the base and thin at the rim showing terracotta beneath, a thumbprint in one side. Alive — two large expressive eyes with glassy highlights, small simple mouth. No arms, no legs. CLIVE: a flawless white porcelain teacup with a fine gold band at rim and foot, perfectly symmetrical, thin-walled. Alive — two large expressive eyes, small refined mouth, serene and faintly superior. No arms, no legs. the set — cupboard interior, light and atmosphere ONLY: sage-green shelves with chipped paint, a front row of gold-rimmed cups, a dusty gap at the back, door ajar with a warm shaft of morning sun and dust motes. [TECHNICAL] High-end stylised 3D animated feature quality. Soft global illumination, physically based rendering, subsurface scattering in glaze and porcelain, warm colour science, shallow depth of field, volumetric light shaft. Beautiful CG animation — NOT photoreal, NOT live action, NOT stop-motion, NOT illustration, NOT anime. ANIMATION LAW: performance is eyes, mouth and tilt only. Neither has arms or legs. They rock, lean and settle on the shelf — never walk, hop or fly. [STRUCTURE] 13 segments, 12 hard cuts. S1/S13 = 84° wide inside the cupboard · characters = 47° at 30-60cm · reactions = 35° close · one 18° macro on the hand. No zooming. [TIMELINE] 0:00-0:03 — 84° wide. Inside the dark cupboard. The front row of gold-rimmed cups gleams. Far at the back, in shadow, PIP sits alone. 0:03-0:05 — 35° close on PIP, eyes bright, leaning forward hopefully. PIP: "Today's the day." 0:05-0:07 — 47°. CLIVE at the front of the shelf, not turning round. CLIVE: "You said that yesterday." 0:07-0:09 — The cupboard door swings open. A shaft of morning light. Both squint. A hand reaches in and takes CLIVE from the front row. 0:09-0:11 — 35° close on PIP, light fading from his face as the door closes. His shoulders drop. PIP: "Tomorrow, then." 0:11-0:16 — MONTAGE, fast cuts on the same 84° angle: the door opens and closes six times, light shifting from morning gold to grey to evening amber to blue. Each time a hand takes a cup from the front. Each time PIP leans forward hopefully and settles back. 0:16-0:18 — 35° close on PIP in the dark, eyes lowered, no longer leaning. 0:18-0:20 — 47°. The door opens again. Grey rainy light this time, slower. 0:20-0:22 — 18° macro. The hand comes in — and stops. It hovers over the front row. It doesn't take one. 0:22-0:25 — 47°. The hand moves past the front row, reaching into the shadow at the back, and closes gently around PIP. 0:25-0:27 — 35° close on CLIVE, eyes wide, entirely surprised. CLIVE: "...Huh." 0:27-0:29 — 47°. PIP lifted out into the grey light, eyes enormous, overwhelmed. PIP: "Told you." 0:29-0:30 — 84° wide from inside the cupboard, out through the open door: PIP on the counter in soft light, steam rising. Hold. [PHYSICS] Ceramic weight — both rock and settle with real mass, wobbling on their bases, never bouncing lightly. The clay is duller and heavier than the porcelain, which rings faintly. The door swings with real hinge weight. Steam rises and curls. Dust drifts slowly in the shaft. [LIGHTING] One warm shaft through the door as the only source, shifting colour through the montage. 60:30:10 — deep cupboard shadow 60% / the shaft 30% / accent gold rims and PIP's blue glaze 10%. The back is genuinely dark; PIP is barely lit until 0:22. [AUDIO] MUSIC: warm score, solo piano with light strings — a simple hopeful theme entering at 0:03, thinning through the montage, dropping to almost nothing at 0:16, blooming warmly at 0:22 and holding. No comedy stings, no plucked cuteness. SFX: door hinge and latch, ceramic settling on wood, the fine ring of porcelain, a distant kettle, rain on a window at 0:18, hot liquid pouring at 0:29. DIALOGUE: five short lines only, warm and understated, never shouted, never cartoonish. [LOCKS] Exactly two characters, both crockery — nothing else comes alive, no faces on any other object. No human is shown beyond a single hand and forearm — no face, no body. Neither character has arms, legs, or moves on its own. PIP is never repaired, never becomes perfect, never cruelly mocked. Nothing breaks, nothing is dropped. No text, labels, logos or watermarks. Never photoreal, never live action, never stop-motion.