Tokyo, Japan – Apple’s latest ‘Shot on iPhone’ film in Japan has adapted the 1986 suspense drama manga series ‘Midnight’ by legendary mangaka Osamu Tezuka, and was conceptualised by TBWA\Media Arts Lab Tokyo.
The film was shot entirely using the iPhone 15 Pro, and was directed by popular Japanese director Takashi Miike. ‘Midnight’ is a thrilling, suspense drama about a taxi driver who encounters strange passengers while making his night rounds. In Apple’s latest film, the driver is pulled out of his way to help a female truck driver, Kaede, who is running from a hitman.
Primarily filmed in dark streets of Tokyo, “Midnight” illustrates the robust low-light and cinematic capabilities of iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max. From capturing crisp details of the characters under the colorful city lights to the stabilization of the live-action fighting shots, iPhone 15 Pro has the best features for creating films right in the palm of your hand.
Moreover, the film combines live-action shots with CGI and pioneers the use of the LiDAR scanner on iPhone in film post-production, in order to create the 3D model base for the Taxi and its iconic fifth wheel.
“Mr. Tezuka is something of a god among manga artists so it was an honor to take on the challenge of expressing his work using only iPhone. As we were shooting, I naturally began to challenge myself to think about how we could make a work unique to iPhone, beyond the usual approach to a film. I truly felt that the iPhone has the power to do things that a conventional movie camera can’t,” Miike said.
The “Midnight” film premiered on YouTube on 6 March, and will be released on apple.com/jp, Abema TV, and Apple TV on 7 March. The full film and the behind-the-scenes will play in select taxis all around Tokyo after 10 PM until morning. The campaign will also be supported by broadcast, magazine, OOH, DOOH, digital and social.
