Keri Hilson - Knock You Down ft Kanye West and Ne-Yo (Goodwin Analysis)

The song "Knock You Down", consists of Keri Hilson ft. Kanye West and Neyo. The genre is said to be R&B. It can be said that it is a hybrid video as it involves a narrative as well as a performance from the artists.

At the very start of the video inter-textual references automatically play a role within the video as it consisted of opening credits displaying the artists names which you would normally find within a film opening. Inter-textual references also play a part within the video when there is a slow motion of West falling to the ground as it has been inspired by the film Matrix. This is an establishing shot consists of the male character, West and the female character, Hilson falling to the ground at a slow pace eventually shattering to pieces. The shot is iconic as you can instantly create a relationship between the theatricals within matrix and this video.

We can instantly establish the relationship between the two characters within this mid shot as we witness the intimacy between both artists. We can interpret that they are a couple.
The narrative within the video begins to come alive at this point as we come to understand that Keri Hilson falls in love with another guy Neyo which eventually causes problems between the present partner and Neyo.

The video builds on Kanye West and Neyo's iconography as they where their signature accessories. Usually in most of Neyo's videos he is normally seen in a hat of some sort which is his signature. The video creates emphasis on his iconography by using close ups of his face. Also the lyrics also state his previous song "Miss Independent" which a huge success for him previously within the same year "Knock You Down" was released, emphasizing his iconography and the single even more.

The iconography of a legendary artist within the music industry is mentioned within the lyrics and Keri Hilson illustrates the signature move of the artist to match the artists name "Michael Jackson". We automatically know that is his move. This is a perfomance based shot with a simple background so that we can focus on the artist herself.

Wire-framing has been used within the video to display two images in one screen in order for the audience to see both sides of a story.  In this video the wire-framing clearly states that the video includes a form of narrative and performance. One clip is in colour which symbolises the present time and the other clip which is in black and white symbolises the memories and the past of the couple when they were younger.

Kanye West sings about subcultures within the high school suggesting a reference towards well known personalities and groups within the high school such as "class clown" and "cheerleader". This creates more inter-textual references to real life situations. The lighting within the video is extremely expressive as it changes depending within the different locations within the video in order to emphasize the mood of the video. The video creates a sexual image of the artist and shows a form of voyeurism for the female artist as she wears a guys football jacket suggesting that she belongs to him.

The visuals within the video match the lyrics as there is a form of illustration as the artist is singing he refers to NASA and the visual imagery shows a rocket setting off with to space.