C.1 ) Shot Size / Angles

The use of the long 30 second establishing shot of New York cutting to Tony comparing his shoes against those in the shop's glass compartment shows that he is but another Teenager in a large city. Tony is simply going about his daily life comparing his shoes fairly oblivious to anything else going on.

Even though there are endless amounts of people living in the town the different types of camera shot show the importance of Tony. The close-ups of his feet and face make you focus on him with minimal distraction from surrounding objects. If you were to focus on other objects the effect created by Tony strutting to the music and his interactions with others would be wasted and you would not get the characters basic thoughts. These being that he is the one everyone wants to know and that he wouldn't want his life any other way. When the camera is in a long shot position the character / characters that Tony is interacting with remain centre screen to remain as the centre of attention.

What i noticed is that multiple times the shots appear to be from the point of view from what Tony is thinking about. These two occasions are the comparing of the shoes (shown above), when Tony approaches the pizza store and when he approaches the second girl. With the shoes especially it shows that at that moment it's the only thing that Tony is thinking about. It emphasizes the fact Tony is young and that he has little cares apart from his appearance and woman. The target demographic of the film would be younger (20s) so a number of them would connect with Tony's thoughts on having to have the best shoes and having to try it with that girl walking down the street.

After Tony approaches the second lady the camera changes to a close-up point-of-view shot of the girl's face as she stands in-front of him. She is shown as aggravated and disrupted by him standing there. Her facial expressions show she has no time for his advances. (this was difficult to screen capture, i did my best). This tells the audience that while he may think anyone would go for him he's not as irresistible as he might like to think. This is revisited again later in the film. While Annette likes Tony it is not the girl that he wants. He wants Stephanie. Tony goes against his own principles of keeping his dance partners as strictly dance partners with nothing on the side. Tony can not understand why Stephanie will not be more than dance partners with him, until Stephanie makes Tony realize his core values are dragging him down and that he could be so much more. She tells him his life is going nowhere and he makes a change. This is touched on further in character/performance.

At one stage during the sequence the camera is in a low angle mid shot position with only Tony in shot with the sky behind him. This is so the audience feel that they are looking up at Tony and his importance is asserted. Even though the shot isn't necessarily required along with the close-ups already sprinkled throughout the scene it gives the audience a sense that he himself also thinks he is important and that he is the only person people should pay attention to.

Apart from during the dance scenes, the rest of the film uses mainly more close-ups and secondly mid shots of Tony and the characters he is with. The minimal use of long shots throughout the film means the film has a very personal feel to it. The movie throughout is giving the story of Tony's troubles and how he is coping with them. The use of so many close-ups means that the audience has a very intimate look into what Tony is going through and you feel his pain. As discussed in character/performance his facial expressions convey every feeling that he has. i.e. During the dance competition against the Hispanic couple you see every emotion that Tony is feeling. You know when he changes his mind from knowing he was the best to being upset and angry about being out done. And then his embarrassment when he was awarded first regardless of the fact he didn't deserve it.

Comparing the shots in Saturday Night Fever to another beloved musical / drama film of the disco era - Grease (also starring John Travolta and also Olivia Newton-John - shows how the decisions used during the opening and bulk of the film give different feelings to the audience. The opening scene of Grease is animated and full of life. As opposed to Saturday Night Fever where you create a connection to the lead character and know his traits by the end of the credits you must wait longer until being introduced. Looking more broadly the film uses less close-ups or mid-shots to create less of an intimate feel between character and audience. Grease focuses more on the whole cast performing as opposed to the two main characters and hence more long shots are used. Even though you feel happy for Danny and Sandy (John and Olivia) getting together you never have the same emotional connection to the characters. The dance scenes don't have the passion of Saturday Night Fever's as they are simply for fun and do not house the same passion or feeling that are found in Tony's dancing in Saturday Night Fever. He dances a living and pours in heart and soul.