Regarding secondary research, I decided to search for a news article that covered responses to their own queries about the subject. This was covered by the BBC in an article, titled “What do people think of Generative AI?” (Archer, P. 2024) where they had conducted around 150 interviews with people from the UK, USA and Australia. This forum enabled them to learn about their thoughts and reactions to generative AI, which would provide a better view of the public consensus than a more closed form created by me. Overall, its responses will prove vital to my animation, as it will enable me to truly learn how people perceive Generative AI outside of my own world view.

The forum covers a myriad of responses, however, most helpfully, it covers open and closed questions so there is a wide plethora of results to work with. Starting with its range of closed questions [Refer to image 1 adjacent]

The closed question I want to discuss is one that asks about the general awareness of AI currently. The results show that there is a high level of understanding, over ~60% of people from each country understands what AI is so some degree. This will aid in the wide berth my message will have when the animation is shown to audiences, as this from roughly covered adults from each country, which would make up a larger amount of the viewer base for my work. One thing to consider, is that this source originates from 2024, and it is highly likely that AI has been much more prevalent in the public conscience as time goes on. Therefore, these results may be even higher were this interview process carried out in 2026

This allows me to alter my creative process to accommodate a wider range of audiences, solely because the overt understanding any audience could have with generative AI is likely quite high. This would also mean I need to ensure I don’t specialise my audience too heavily and reflect that in my work too prominently either. Having a wider appeal would greatly help me convey my message to audiences, as I can focus on showing the personal impact Generative AI will have on creatives, as that is an experience not everyone will initially understand. Specifically, I intend to be a bit clearer with my messaging, instead of hiding it behind deeper metaphors that the majority of my audience may not understand.

For an open question, the interview begins to try understanding some audience perspectives on Generative AI. There are a few quoted responses from surveyors, and these are quite telling, while also as vital, I’d say [Refer to image 2 adjacent]

This section deals with the concept of Generative AI potentially being a prevalent part of life in the future. Comparing it to that of the invention of the smart phone, and how that revolutionise our way of life, and society. Conversely, it was also considered that some of these potentially society altering inventions don’t always live up to expectation, namely NFTs and the blockchain. Surveyors considered this, but ~58% of people from all three countries believed it would likely “profoundly change daily life in the future”. One answer stated that “I feel like you never hear any positive news about AI. I’m sure there is lots of really good stuff that it is doing. But it’s always like job losses and the dangers, you know.”. The impact Generative AI specifically may have in the future cannot be understated, it is accelerating at an alarming rate, and larger companies already aim to find methods that allow them to cut costs and save time. This threat is the heart of my animation and its message; I wish to show what a world without any human creativity may seem like. This research very much justifies my concepts.

As an additional result of this information, I am firmer in my notions and concepts for this animation. My ideas feel grounded as there is a consensus that AI as a whole is generally understood to likely have an extremely prevalent part of our future, my animation aims to explain just that while also showing a somewhat extreme result of AI’s growth. The synthesis of society and generative AI may potentially be positive, as some people in this interview did hope for, however I intend to show the negative side, that is just as believable. 

As an additional perspective into the visual styles I considered, I had utilised a secondary source to understand the variety of lighting and art forms I could apply to my project. One art style I’ve always been fascinated by are silhouette driven depth effects; this essentially covers scenes that use black and white to present a scenes depth with black being the objects the closest and white being the objects farthest away. Upon research, this effect is often used for more practical applications of compositing and image editing, it is deemed a “Depth Buffer”. In an artistic sense, this is the usage of silhouettes, while the terminology borders onto technical practises. To truly understand how silhouettes function and work, my secondary source for visual style is an animator's guide on “Silhouette animation: Definition, History, and Uses” (Thompson R., 2026)

This guide covers a myriad of points around the usage of silhouettes in animation, and how one may need to consider character movement and its portrayal to provide a better scene. Despite the focus on animation, there are still especially vital points on how the visual style is defined, and what characteristics make it unique in its own fashion. The first point it raises on the visual portrayal of silhouettes is that high contrast is something that is vital, “This strong contrast makes shapes stand out clearly, like shadow puppets”. High contrast enables the animation to be striking, and bold, while also allowing for a heavier focus on character movement, as opposed to visual style itself. This is fascinating as it makes the over piece a lot more memorable too, silhouettes aren’t commonplace in the animation industry currently, so I’d like to take advantage of that. Another point the guide raises, is that silhouettes place an emphasis on negative space, stating that” The story comes from the outline and the space around characters. Facial features and details aren’t shown; therefore, shapes convey the story”. This is a characteristic I believe will really aid in the conveying of my animation’s message, a very unique way to build the world I’d say.

As a result of learning this, I can understand that my visual style could benefit from silhouettes. The high contrast characteristics and the usage of negative space would allow me to catch attention, while also ensuring that I can build the world without outright stating anything on the backdrop of society as it currently is in the animation. Negative space will directly allow me to show the overwhelming nature of a world that doesn’t care for you and is entirely daunting in its focus on AI as opposed to people. Subliminal messaging will also slowly become a unique aspect of my work. 

Regarding the market presence my project may hypothetically have, I have once more utilised the form (Seewoolall R., 2026) mentioned prior in this document to cover the understanding of my market. My focus was initially understanding my audience as they provided responses to my investigation. This encapsulated my attempts to gauge exactly what my audience actively interacts with media wise, and how their choices of genres/thematic preference can impact their interaction with certain other themes that pertain to my project. This would allow me to understand the potential markets my work would fall into, and how my work may potentially be received in various other markets.

To begin, the main query I wish to discuss was the one where I had asked how my smaller audience interact with various art forms, and which ones they would say they actively engage with. The question outright asked, “Which of these media forms do you enjoy and actively engage with?”. This question was met with varied responses, which proves useful as it allows me gauge which art forms are the most relevant, and where film/TV may lie, as this market is where my project would fall into. As is evidenced on the results here, videogames and music are the most relevant, which is understandable considering my audience/the demographic of my surveyors. The intriguing aspect of this, however, is that there is a striking popularity with music. It ranks the same in terms of votes and implicates that my audiences would very likely be interesting with the prospect of music. As an additional note, film and TV are relatively high, hopefully indicating that the market for films/TV products would be strong, and diverse, even within an audience of videogame focussed surveyors.

As a result of this, it seems like an effective approach to consider placing a slight focus on music throughout my work. Music seems like a sure-footed market, as it proves to be popular even amidst a slew of results that favour videogames as an art form. My initial intentions were to avoid the existence of music in my work entirely, leaning into the desolate atmosphere my world could have, even with the arts, I still wanted the world to feel lacking. With the new-found knowledge as a result of my research however, I now wish to consider placing music alongside the story, to ensure my work could draw into this viable market.

Ultimately, it is important to consider the state of the markets relating to 3D Animation as a whole, since this is the medium my work will be created in. I intend to carry out a cursory analysis that is still equally as effective at providing insightful results for my work. For this, I have located a comprehensive deeper break down to the 3D animation market, and intriguingly so, the drivers that push the market forward, which aids in gauging its future growth. This source is an analysis report (Gupta M., 2025) that provides an industry overview for 3D Animation entirely.

The reports itself initially cover the dynamics of the 3D Animation markets currently, discussing drivers and restraints, both of which are just as valuable to my work. Starting with drivers, one of the more relevant ones to my project is the “Increasing demand in Entertainment and Media”. This driver seems to be characterised by the increasing desire for emotionally engaging stories that are only emphasised by the presence of 3D Animation. Visually stunning effects and emotionally engaging scenes are large factors the drive appeal, while also being parts of what makes 3D Animation so viable as a medium. These factors provide useful insight on what makes the market appealing, and what my animation should consider making sure it fits into the market perfectly. On the contrary, a restraint that I deem relevant to my project is the focus on “Lack of skilled talent” within the industry. It seems that the market for 3D Animation is held back partially by the lack of high-quality products.

As a result of these findings, my creative process is ever so slightly altered since I need to now consider what keeps this market strong, while also ensuring I am aware of what holds it back. One the aspect of drivers, I now truly gauge the importance of impactful visuals that allow viewers to feel connected to the story. I wish to carry this philosophy within my project and therefore, I intend to make sure my visuals are striking and stunning, to make sure audiences feel engaged and connected, similarly, to makes the market thrive regularly. My visual style will be curated as a direct result of this to have the visuals be wildly unique, while also ensuring the art is fit for purpose and the story it wishes to convey. In regard to the restraints of the market currently, high-quality work will always be revered and held in high regard, as such, I need to ensure my work exudes a level of attention to detail and quality that will immediately show audiences my care and passion for the work. This may alter my choice of length for my animation, preserving quality over quantity of animation.