Synopsis

Chromeo perform at a dimly lit house party while the video turns the song's warning into a surreal visual gag. Whenever the lights go out, the duo and the other guests are reduced to glowing eyes and exaggerated grins floating in the darkness. A pair of disembodied eyeballs then breaks free and travels through the city, encountering increasingly strange situations. The clip mixes deadpan performance footage, practical effects and digital manipulation, giving the retro electro-funk track an unexpectedly eerie, playful and absurd atmosphere.

Factoids & Trivia

• The video accompanied "Don't Turn the Lights On," the second single from Chromeo's 2010 album Business Casual.

• Its central visual idea is built around darkness, illuminated eyes and faces that seem to lose the rest of their features when the lights are switched off.

• Production combined effects created in camera with additional visual work by The Mill LA.

• Chromeo were involved beyond their on-screen performances. In a 2010 interview, the duo said they stayed involved through the editing process and even the final color-correction stages.

• The video's visual-effects work earned a nomination for Best Special Effects at the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards.

• Contemporary coverage highlighted how difficult many of the visual tricks were to decipher, since the clip deliberately hides the boundary between practical effects and post-production.

• The song also appeared in the soundtrack for the 2010 soccer video game FIFA 11, helping connect the single with an audience beyond Chromeo's usual electro-funk scene.