The archive · Content & Film · Marketing decision · 2024
Apple turns Tezuka's manga 'Midnight' into a 19-minute film shot entirely on iPhone 15 Pro
Apple adapts Tezuka's 1986 manga 'Midnight' into a 19-minute Tokyo thriller shot entirely on an iPhone 15 Pro — proving low-light filmmaking in the dark.
Apple · TBWA\Media Arts Lab Tokyo
What it had to solve
For its 'Shot on iPhone' series in Japan, Apple needed to prove the iPhone 15 Pro could capture cinematic, low-light footage. A conventional demo would be a spec list; the brand wanted work that could only have been made with the phone.
How it works
Apple's Japanese 'Shot on iPhone' series took an unusual turn in March 2024: instead of a short demo, the brand released a 19-minute live-action film adapting Osamu Tezuka's 1986 manga 'Midnight'. Director Takashi Miike shot it entirely on an iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max through the neon-lit streets of Tokyo.
The story follows a late-night taxi driver, Midnight (Kento Kaku), who helps a young truck driver, Kaede (Konatsu Kato), flee a hitman. Action mode stabilized the fight scenes, Cinematic mode allowed focus to be changed after shooting, and the phone's LiDAR scanner was used in post-production to build the 3D model of the taxi and its fifth wheel.
The film premiered on YouTube on 6 March 2024, followed by apple.com/jp, Abema TV and Apple TV, with selected Tokyo taxis screening it after 10 pm. At MAD STARS 2024 it won the Entertainment Video Stars Grand Prix plus Golds in Film, Viral Video and Integrated — a product demonstration accepted as entertainment.
Why it lands
- The constraint was the claim: shooting at night in Tokyo forced every frame to prove the phone's low-light ability, with no demo reel in between.
- Adapting a real manga by Osamu Tezuka gave the film cultural weight and a story people wanted to watch — demonstration disguised as cinema.
- Technical choices were product features: Action mode, Cinematic mode's post-focus, and LiDAR-assisted 3D made the film's craft a running specification of the phone.
- The distribution was as creative as the film: screening it in Tokyo taxis after midnight put the product story where the film's audience actually was.
What it did
The film won the Entertainment Video Stars Grand Prix at MAD STARS 2024 plus Golds in Film, Viral Video and Integrated, and became a widely cited demonstration of phone-shot cinematic filmmaking in low light.
What you can take
Let the constraint be the message: when the whole film is shot on the phone at night, the product claim becomes self-evident — a demonstration that entertains travels further than a spec list.
Since then
Midnight became one of the most-discussed entries in Apple's 'Shot on iPhone' canon, drew attention to smartphone filmmaking in Japan and internationally, and helped TBWA\Media Arts Lab Tokyo establish a streak of award-winning Japanese Apple work. Apple followed with further Shot on iPhone productions, and the film is regularly cited in discussions of mobile cinema and low-light capture.
Sources
- Apple Releases 19-Minute Takashi Miike Short Film Shot on an iPhone
- Director Takashi Miike and TBWA\Media Arts Lab Tokyo release 19 minute Shot on iPhone film
- See all the Grand Prix and Gold award winners from the 2024 Mad Stars Awards
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