[1] Using drawn-on-film animation, McLaren and Lambart painted and scratched directly onto film stock to create a visual representation of Oscar Peterson's jazz music.
The group met at the recording studio two weeks later; at the time, the Oscar Peterson Trio included Austin Roberts on bass and Clarence Jones on drums.
McLaren was concerned about obligating the NFB to pay royalties; the soundtrack to Begone Dull Care is not included on any of Peterson’s albums.
Numerous transparent coloured dyes were used; musical accents or short phrases were emphasized by additional painting or engraving.
In one instance, the sounds of the three musicians are encapsulated in a flurry of three-dimensional shapes landing on a pinkish feather; in another, a bird-like design flaps its wings in tempo.
The goal was to stimulate the eye by capturing the rhythmic energy produced by sound and transferring it onto film through abstract images of colour and light.
[8] In 2014, to celebrate McLaren on the 100th anniversary of his birth, Montreal’s entertainment district, the Quartier des Spectacles, was transformed into a vast outdoor laboratory for experimental video art.