The opening shot of this scene as well as the following shot of Billy’s friend, is relatively wide, giving a sense of isolation between the characters. The low angle of the first shot also creates a feeling of empowerment for Billy, hinting to the fact that he is about to finally stand up to his father. The scene then cuts to an over the shoulder close up on Billy’s father. This is so the audience can gauge his emotions of anger from finding the boys dancing when he thinks they should only be boxing. The shallow depth of field makes the facial expressions more obvious. In this shot, his face is also far more exposed than the side of Billy’s face, which is in the shadow of his dad. This could represent the fact that Billy has been living under the oppressive rule of his father.

This shot also sets up the next close up of Billy’s determined face, creating a conventional edit between the two. However, Billy begins dancing and subverts this conventionality. The next mid shot shows the freedom of Billy’s dancing against his father’s rigid, unmoving stance. I also find it interesting how the two character’s height almost reaches the top of the frame. This creates an evenness between the two characters as Billy is finally finding the courage to show his love of dancing. There is also a beautiful moment of synchronisation here with the shots and the soundtrack. The segment cuts to a mid shot behind Billy right as he kicks up towards his dad’s face. This mid shot then allows for his dad’s movement of startle to be prominent as well as Billy’s proceeding to circle him. This shows that Billy is not intimidated by his father when he is dancing. There is then a dolly tracking shot behind Billy as he dances away. This, as well as the wide shot, convey the freedom that Billy is feeling. The smooth movement of the dolly carries into the next shot from in front of Billy. It continues pulling out slightly even after Billy stops, revealing a wide shot where his dad and friend can be seen in the background. The shallow depth of field means that you cannot see them clearly but can see their presence as Billy’s audience. In this shot, Billy is dominant. The wide shot continues on him from the front and this allows for space for Billy’s movements but also includes all the boxing gear behind him, reiterating the dominance of the father’s want for him to be a boxer and Billy’s subsequent defiance. Then there is a mid shot of the dad and it is very fast but his work friend can be seen in the background, suggesting that his belligerence may be somewhat influenced by what other people think of his son. In this shot, there also seems to be a slight shift in his emotion.

The cut back to Billy dancing involves some panning of the camera to fit in his moves. This movement of the camera again creates a sense of freedom but also the idea that Billy will not be constrained. This theme carries into the following shot from behind the fencing. As Billy runs up and jumps onto the fence, he takes up a lot of the frame compared to his father, giving him power. However, the physical obstruction of the fence in the frame suggests that Billy is still stuck. The focus pulling of the shot of Billy running away from the wall quickly pulls focus away from the dad, making him seem more helpless.

The way these shots are constructed and edited together tie in beautifully with the choreography of the dancing. For example, there is a static shot of Billy flipping across the frame and the next shot is a tracking shot from behind him. This builds a flow to the shots that matches the dancing as well as the music. As Billy pirouettes towards the camera it starts moving back, giving off his fierceness and passion. It then switches to behind him as he nears his father to build up to the “finale” of his routine and lands back on the mid shot of the two of them that we saw towards the beginning. Billy’s dancing ends on an over the shoulder mid shot of him which then allows for the dad to turn his back on him. As he does this, the focus is pulled from Billy’s face to the dads as he walks off, belittling everything that Billy has just expressed.  

The scene finishes with a tracking shot of Billy’s father walking away angrily as Billy chases after him. Billy can be seen getting smaller and more out of focus in the background, isolating him. Both characters also look small in the shot as they are overpowered by the their surroundings; the dad because of the mining strike and Billy because of his want to dance.The final close up of Billy out of breath just reiterates the pain he is going through.