Stephen Frankfurt by Natalie Spurlock and Sara Armstrong

Stephen Frankfurt

Stephen Frankfurt was born on December 17, 1931 in Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA and went to the Pratt Institute. He was a practicing graphic designer and art director who served as a senior executive at agencies like Frankfurt Gips Balkind, Kenyon & Eckhardt, Partners & Shevack, and Young & Rubicam. Frankfurt earned international recognition when he was made the president of Young & Rubicam in 1968. Not only was he, at 36, the youngest man in advertising to hold such a high office, he was also an art director when it was rare for art directors to run agencies. He is very well known for his work on To Kill a Mockingbird(1962), and Rosemary’s Baby. He died on September 28, 2012, in Bronx, New York City.

In the To Kill a Mockingbird title sequence, Frankfurt uses many different design devices to set the tone for the film. His film sequence ideas for To Kill a Mockingbird changed the world of film sequences, his title was paid homage to in Almost Famous and Se7en. A big one is the use of overlay; in it we can see that everything from the video sequences to the typography is laid over each other at some point or another. The use of overlay represents the ideas of slowing down and connecting one scene to another. This opening film sequence is reflective of the film in the ideas in being forced to slow down and reflect on what is being shown in the marbles, his compositions give you the ideas of limitless calm and meditation as seen in his use of extreme close up cinematography that mimics what we see in the film. A quote from Frankfurt. “The goal was “to find a way to get into the head of a child,”. The sequence is reflective of the film in a way that is not mimicry but in a way to help set the tone. In all of his sequences, he strives for simplicity, directness, and meaning.