Apple releases 19-minute Takashi Miike manga film shot on iPhone 15 Pro

Still from “Midnight,” a new short film shot on iPhone 15 Pro
Director Takashi Miike brings to life “Midnight,” a manga by Osamu Tezuka. All shot on iPhone 15 Pro. A mysterious taxi driver lends a hand to Kaede, a young girl chased by assassins.
Patrick Brzeski for The Hollywood Reporter:
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Titled Midnight, the mini-movie is an adaptation of a lesser-known work by legendary Japanese manga artist Osamu Tezuka. Much of the film takes place in neon-lit Tokyo at night, including a thrilling car chase sequence — a deliberate exercise on Apple’s part to showcase their device’s video capture capabilities in low lighting.
The story centers on a late-night taxi driver named “Midnight” played by popular Japanese actor Kento Kaku, who roams the streets of Tokyo offering help to those in need. The film follows Midnight as he comes to the aid of a young woman, played by Konatsu Kato, who is struggling to take over her recently deceased father’s truck-driving business while fighting off a nefarious local gang, led by an evil boss played by the acclaimed character actor Yukiyoshi Ozawa.
Miike is one of Japan’s most prolific and adventurous directors, with over 100 feature film credits to his name, including genre cinema landmarks like Audition, Ichi the Killer and 13 Assassins. He is renowned for irreverent and inventive visual style and pacing.

“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,” Miike said in a statement. “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.”
“Action mode accurately captures the facial expressions of subjects in a scene in a dynamic way, while reflecting their emotions and thoughts,” Miike continued. “For example, in the scene where Kaede hears news of her father passing away, furiously rushing out to show her sadness. Thanks to iPhone 15 Pro and Action mode, I was able capture such a scene. It is beyond what a conventional stabilizer can do without compromising the high-quality of the film. It is truly a magical feature.”
“While Cinematic mode gives the film a more cinematic look, I was even more impressed by the ability to adjust the focus after shooting,” Miike added. “You can focus on whatever you want, whenever you want. I hope that game-changing features like this that are impossible with regular photography equipment will be added more and more, and that it will break the conventional thinking of filmmakers.”
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MacDailyNews Note: On iPhone 14 models and iPhone 15 models, Action mode provides improved stabilization while recording in Video mode. Action mode works best in bright light. If you want to use Action mode in lower light, go to Settings > Camera, tap Record Video, then turn on Action Mode Lower Light. Action mode has a maximum capture resolution of 2.8K.
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