Question for any tap dancers out there. I was wondering if there isn't some inconsistency between what we see and what we hear with regards to taps on his shoes when he's dancing. Specifically I'm thinking about when he and Michael are on the roof and he's dancing at minute 61:54. Also on the pavement right after that, when he runs into the metal fence. Thoughts?
shareI'm not a tap dancer myself, but I do know that tap dancing sounds tend to be added in post-production. The shoes Billy was wearing during the scene didn't look like tap ones, so they wouldn't make the sound (let alone dancing on the pavement).
During the 'Good Morning' number in Singin' In The Rain, for example, Gene Kelly didn't find Debbie Reynolds' tap dancing to be loud enough to be heard during the scene, so he dubbed the sound himself and it was added to the movie afterwards. It's very likely that the same thing was done for Billy Elliot.
It's possible his boots had Blakey's - also known as 'taps' or 'segs' on the soles and heels. These are small metal plates which are hammered on to prevent wear. Although they were already going out of use by 1984, they were still fairly common especially in a poor northern town such as Billy's where money was tight. They make a 'tap dancing' sound, though not as loud as real tap shoes.
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