Today we’d like to introduce you to Mallory Siegenthaler.
Hi Mallory, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
My affinity for visual storytelling first began in high school. I attended a magnet school in Louisville, Kentucky where I studied journalism and communications. In high school, I worked for a news magazine as a graphic designer and photojournalist. As a graphic designer, I studied visual design and aesthetics. And as a photographer, I studied how to tell a story in a single frame. In high school, I split my time between shooting for the newspaper and shooting portraits for my friends. I just tried to always have concepts ready to shoot.
This “always shoot” mentality followed me when I got to college. I attended Elon University and immediately joined a fashion magazine and newspaper working as a photographer. I entered as Cinema & TV Arts major simply because it seemed to closely align with my aspirations of becoming a photographer. Although I was a cinema major, up until my junior year, I was unsure about actually pursuing film after college. During the fall of my junior year, I studied at FAMU International in Prague. This is where I fell in love with the art of narrative filmmaking. In my courses, we studied film language, film history, exposure, filters, lenses, etc. The combination of film analysis and technical knowledge excited me. This experience made me realize that I wanted to become a cinematographer.
Having the itch to go to film school and learn more about the craft, I decided to apply to MFA programs. I’m now in my second year at Chapman University’s Dodge College of Film and Media Arts. I’ve had the opportunity to add six films to my portfolio and add countless set opportunities to my resume.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Being a female DP and camera assistant, I feel is inherently more difficult. It’s not good enough to just be good, you have to be outstanding. In general, women are usually working twice as hard to be offered the same opportunities as their male counterparts. This is even more apparent in the film industry where it does very much feel like a boys’ club. I have had cables, lights, and stands taken out of my hand by male peers, so that can be hard sometimes.
Other than that, I have the same internal struggle that most creatives face. Attending a respected film school with extremely talented young filmmakers, it’s easy to feel an eternal sense of impostor syndrome. It’s always hard to be satisfied with your work because there’s always something you could have done better or someone’s film that impresses you more. But that’s what makes the process enjoyable: you are always learning.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I’m a cinematographer. It’s early in my career, so I’m still trying to find my voice. However, I lean toward character-driven scripts. The human experience is fascinating to me. I tend to watch/want to shoot films with very simple plots but complex characters. Some of my favorite films are coming-of-age films because the human brain goes through such a transformation during that time. You can really see a person’s objectives and relationships naturally develop in adolescent stories.
Overall, I would just say I’m a curious person. I always want to learn more whether that is by doing research, asking my peers, or conducting tests. In each project that I am pitched, I ask myself, “What can I do that’s new?”
Can you share something surprising about yourself?
As I said before, I started off doing graphic design. When I have downtime, I just open up Illustrator and make dumb little designs. I really love making pitch decks. In school, we have to create cinematography presentations to show the class our visual and technical plan. Other than shooting the actual film, creating a cinematography “lookbook” is one of my favorite aspects because I get to combine my graphic design and DP brain.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.mallorysiegenthaler.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/malsiegenthaler/
Image Credits
Ian Chen, Rutvij Reddy Seelam, Frank Xu
