A Game with Stones

A Game with Stones (German: Spiel mit Steinen; Czech: Hra s kameny) is a 1965 short animated film by Czech animator Jan Švankmajer.^[1] It utilizes stop-motion animation.^[2]

A Game with Stones
Directed by	Jan Švankmajer
Written by	Jan Švankmajer
Produced by	Alexander Hans Puluj
Cinematography	Peter Puluj
Edited by	Jan Švankmajer
Production company	Studio A
Release date	1965 (1965)
Running time	9 minutes
Country	Austria

Themes

The animator uses a motif of clocks and stones, accompanied by bizarre sounds and a xylophone/music box score. The film makes use of texture and pattern, with an emphasis on the dichotomy of black and white. The use of old and antique objects reappears in many of the filmmaker's later works.

Production

The film was Švankmajer's first collaboration with Austrian producer Alexander Hans Puluj and cinematographer Peter Puluj, who were both born in Prague. They were sons of a famous physicist Ivan Puluj. The whole film was shot in an Austrian farmhouse.^[3]