Synopsis

A naked couple lie together in a series of intimate, tightly framed images. At first, the footage feels calm and photographic, but the visuals gradually become more fragmented and disorienting. Faces, bodies, colors, and movement multiply across the screen in increasingly abstract patterns, mirroring the song's hypnotic build. The video shifts from sensual stillness to a vivid kaleidoscope of animation and light, turning a simple portrait of physical closeness into an experimental study of desire, repetition, and visual rhythm.

Factoids & Trivia

• The video was released in 2011 as a single from the band's debut album, "Passive Me, Aggressive You," which originally came out in 2010.

• It was created by the New Zealand production company Special Problems, which also worked with The Naked and Famous on several other videos.

• The visual concept grew from a deliberately unusual brief. The band gave the production team broad creative freedom, while the only major restriction was that the video should not become pornographic.

• The couple featured in the video were friends of the production team rather than the band members themselves.

• The production combines live-action photography with extensive animation and image manipulation. The transformation from recognizable bodies to abstract, kaleidoscopic forms was designed to follow the song's gradual intensification.

• The video's explicit nudity led to restrictions on its distribution, including the availability of a separate explicit version and presentation through platforms other than standard YouTube.

• "The Sun" won Best Music Video at the 2012 New Zealand Music Awards, giving Special Problems its second win in the category for work with The Naked and Famous.