Monday Motivation: Be an Extra in a Movie

Monday Mood, Monday Motivation for Women, Female Entrepreneurs

It’s not often a Halloween Dance party is held at the end of July, although it probably could if you take a hint from retail stores that have filled shelves with candy corn, masks, and black decorations. The extreme promotion of the next selling season is ever-present in today’s retail world. I was happy about it this year though, since the Halloween Dance party required a costume and I was all about dressing up even though it was 90 degrees outside.

As I entered the darkened backroom of the Press Room, a popular bar in Syracuse, the staff already had spider webs, orange pumpkins, and strobe lights up and running. A witch, werewolf, robots, ravens, and Michael Myers masked men in black stood around chatting. Mary Jane, Spiderman’s girlfriend played by Sally LoMonaco Moore, the star and producer of this Indie film, greeted me with a hug appreciating my appearance as a Suffragette.

Once everyone arrived and all the entranceways and windows were darkened for the taping of a Halloween Party scene for the movie, the action began. I was one of many extras playing attendees of the party, dancing to a repetitive score like being at a rave. The music would play and we would dance around the main character or as a backdrop through a window scene until the music stopped playing to allow silence needed for the actor’s lines but we kept dancing in silence. Everyone was into it and did a great job turning on and off their best Saturday Night Live moves. The beat is still in my head today.

Not only was I there because I love supporting females, like Sally, in any career role, but because I believe trying new things and saying YES to new experiences enriches one’s life. If we constantly say no to opportunities, we never walk through a new door – in this case, a cobwebbed door – to meet new people, add new credentials to our resume, or just have a great time we wouldn’t otherwise wouldn’t have.

My mother started a Children’s Performing Arts Company a couple decades ago after being a dance teacher for the deaf, so theater, dance, and singing were always around me, I just didn’t choose to follow in her footsteps, choosing sports and business instead. But I am positive deep down inside of me the spirit to agree to be an extra on two local indie films this year, the other one being The Sentinel by Joe Barnes, has something to do with that influence.

My suggestion today is to agree to more opportunities you haven’t tried before to expand your horizons. You might see, hear, or learn something that leads you onto a cool new area of life. It is also fascinating to see how films are directed, photographed, and acted, along with being an extra, gives me a new lens into any movie I watch in the future – especially Halloween movies with dance scenes.