Scratch marks that suddenly appear on the screen in a dark movie theater dance with the jagged lines that linger on the retina for seconds. In this musical experiment, in which he pushes the boundaries of pure animation, Norman McLaren draws the audience directly into a visual and auditory rhythm. Moving lines etched directly onto a blank film strip crown the tense yet harmonious relationship between a bird and its cage with a mechanical tone. Completely rejecting traditional narrative patterns, this short film flows along to the accompaniment of clicks and percussive sounds. Each rhythmic scratch that appears on the screen leaves an abstract visual experience that immediately catches the eye and is etched into memory.