Film Details
Synopsis
The 'Earlybird' is a short and sweet animation portraying the advantages of bicycle travel. There are no threats of global meltdown directed towards the viewer to support a more environmentally sound way to get to work. All director Trace Balla does is simply take us through an animated comparison between bike and car travel that paints one method as liberating, energetic and serene against one that seems tedious, frustrating and pretty unnecessary.
'Earlybird' is certainly filled with many organic elements such as the acoustic Sunday afternoon strumming and the fact that the protagonist works at the pay-as-you-please Lentil as Anything restaurant. Despite this very environmentally aware workplace, our heroine drives to work yet due to peak hour traffic and the rising price of fuel she considers the age old vehicle that requires nothing more than a push of the pedals.
As she sets off on her journey she is a commuter, who is fully integrated into her community; driving past children playing, birds singing and women on park benches knitting. This contradicts greatly with the passing of motorists in gridlock, who bang their impatient heads on their steering wheels. Balla's smooth imagery transforms these commuters into rats running around up and down a wheel and birds trapped in a cage as those on bikes cycle past taking in the world around them.
What was originally a forced decision due to the impracticality of car travel, 'The Early Bird' shows bike riding as a method of travel with endless benefits, that everyone seems to know do exist outside of a four door car, yet most still have not incorporated into their daily commute. Yet...
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