July 30th, 2009
Ever wonder how abandoned shopping carts end up where they do? Me too.
Cart
Written & Directed by Jesse Rosten
Music by Peter Lance
The idea for this film was hatched a few years ago. Lyn and I were driving through town and had Radiohead’s OK Computer on the CD player. As we drove by an empty parking lot, we happened to notice a shopping cart looking rather lost and disheveled. This visual, combined with Yorke’s longing melodies, had us both feeling like we were experiencing something dramatic and cinematic. So, naturally, we started laughing. The next few minutes were spent joking about “the little cart that could.” “Wouldn’t that be funny if…” “He’s got the heart of a champion.” Fast forward a few years and we hadn’t forgotten about the cart. When I learned that my hometown was hosting a film festival to showcase local talent, the idea of the shopping cart resurfaced. Can’t get shown up on your home court, right? A few beers with friends and many script revisions later and we had a story.
The film was shot with no budget, over a few weeks. The question I get asked the most is, “how did you get the cart to move?” Simple. String. Ugly Braid 40lbs test fishing line to be exact. We went through several brands before we found one that didn’t show too much on screen. Even so, when shooting at 4k it’s hard to hide anything and I ended up having to comp the string out of a few of the shots. Big thanks to Derek and Lyn for all their hard work on the production. Also, this film wouldn’t be what it is without the beautiful music composed by Peter Lance.
Please enjoy the film and don’t hesitate to ask (in the comments section) if you have any questions. For the tech-heads, this was shot on a Red One with Canon EOS lenses via the Birger lens mount.
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48 Responses
well done Jesse- absolutely brilliant, even by the high standards I already have you at
July 31st, 2009 11:58 am
raul gonzo
FABULOUS! It made me cry. (Dave too, I’ll admit it for him.) We are not going to miss the film festival next year.
August 1st, 2009 1:58 pm
Buffy Tanner
[...] Watch it in full quality on his website – but try not to read the story before seeing the film. AKPC_IDS += "803,";Popularity: unranked [?] Print/share: [...]
August 3rd, 2009 11:41 am
Visualnary » Blog Archive » Cart – beautiful short film
Phantastic film, Jesse. I left a longer comment on Vimeo.
You are very talented, young man!
August 3rd, 2009 11:41 am
Martin Weiss
Incredible, beautiful, hauntingly lovely. Thank you!
August 5th, 2009 1:55 pm
Kelly Salter
Outstanding job. Do you own the red?
August 13th, 2009 7:34 pm
Mike
And kudos on the music man. VERY nicely done.
August 13th, 2009 7:37 pm
Mike
I do own a Red. Thanks for watching!
August 13th, 2009 8:41 pm
jesse
Jesse, I don’t now nothing about the how-to’s of your work, I am a software engineer. But you had me moved, with a knot in my throat
Very good work, pls send congrats to the whole team and specially to Steve Lance.
August 14th, 2009 5:49 am
Alejandro Quiroga Alsina
[...] für die Macher und einige Erklärungen hinter diesem Film interessiert, der schaut am besten mal hier vorbei. Dort erfährt man etwas über die Idee und deren Umsetzung in einem “no budget [...]
August 16th, 2009 8:26 am
Heute Morgen at Point ZERO | leben-zwo-punkt-null
Beautiful film, Jesse. Very good work. – Mirek Czech republic – Prague.
August 16th, 2009 12:27 pm
Mirek Veselý
[...] is a triumphantly heroic short film directed by Jesse Rosten, with music by Peter Lance. This film is so far beyond amazing that I can’t imagine what [...]
August 17th, 2009 6:54 pm
Cart: Is This Really Life? « Et Cetera: Publick and Privat Curiosities
[...] Cart é um curta de Jesse Rosten que mostra um carrinho de supermecados “humanizado”. Achei lindo, a fotografia, trilha sonora e tudo mais. Vale a pena assistir pois não serão 10 minutos perdidos. #Recomento. Veja mais informações no site do próprio Jesse Rosten. [...]
August 17th, 2009 7:21 pm
Cart – de Jesse Rosten | oventilador.org
[...] Jesse Rostens short film “Cart” deals with those questions around the useful and often used, but mostly unloved everyday objects. He evokes them to life and impressed with wonderful pictures and a beautiful soundtrack. Also reasons why the film won the Best of Festival Film Award at the Sundial Film Festival 2009. The idea for this film was hatched a few years ago. Lyn and I were driving through town and had Radiohead’s OK Computer on the CD player. As we drove by an empty parking lot, we happened to notice a shopping cart looking rather lost and disheveled. This visual, combined with Yorke’s longing melodies, had us both feeling like we were experiencing something dramatic and cinematic. So, naturally, we started laughing [...] A few beers with friends and many script revisions later and we had a story. (By Jesse Rosten) [...]
August 18th, 2009 10:03 am
Cart – A film by Jesse Rosten - urbanartcore
[...] Cart, do diretor americano Jesse Rosten, dá vida e sentimento a um carrinho de supermercado. Filmado em algumas semanas e sem orçamento, é impressionante a qualidade da fotografia, roteiro, direção e trilha. Usaram uma Red One com lentes Canon EOS. Você pode saber mais sobre “Cart – The Film” no blog do diretor. [...]
August 18th, 2009 6:35 pm
Você TEM que assistir #3 – Cart @ Irrelevante
Beautiful. Loved it!
August 19th, 2009 6:39 am
Emily
Jesse, as a amateur film maker, I LOVE stories. I film everything I can in my search for telling beautiful stories to the people. I’ve been at Sahara twice, Death Valley three times, mountains in Brazil several times, always searching for the right story, right light, right characters. That’s why I need to say, YOU ROCK, man!! Your beautiful and inspirational story of the cart catch us all in my small ad agency and at home. In some point of the movie, I thought my wife were about to cry. That’s really brilliant! I would love to stay in contact with you and with your artwork.
Much love from Brazil!
August 21st, 2009 3:44 am
Rodrigo Cerqueira
Jesse,
That was a fantastic film! I would like to think that I watch quite a few films on the internet, and rarely do I find one that matches the quality of this one. I found myself not wanting it to end. Congratulations. Have you thought about submitting it to the Oscars in short subject? I don’t think that that is an outlandish question, as I believe that you could have a real shot, especially if you already have won other awards. I loved it.
August 28th, 2009 3:01 pm
Eric Goldstein
[...] Creator: Jesse Rosten Vimeo Channel: Cart – The Film Website: Jesse Rosten [...]
September 24th, 2009 1:34 pm
Cart – The Film | 93 Studios - Screening Room
Hello from Russia!
Can I quote a post in your blog with the link to you?
October 22nd, 2009 1:17 pm
Polprav
Jesse (and team)~
I’ve been meaning to look-up this film that you made for a while and just got to it…
Wow.
While I have come to expect high-standards of technical wizardry from you, I am so impressed with the emotional resonance of this film.
You made me care for metal frame and wheels, a cart {!} –that has got to be a new benchmark in filmatic talent & storytelling ability. I was hooked from the very first frames and, of course, also quite teary-eyed at the end.
Really beautiful work; bravo! Looking forward to the next one.
October 31st, 2009 4:56 pm
April Coots
I don’t believe in films about inanimate objects. It’s a cop-out
November 13th, 2009 9:48 am
steve
A recommendation through a friend through a friend etc. I grew up in Redding. I never thought it could look like that… Gorgeous film. You anthropomorphized a shopping cart and made me cry. Beautifully shot. I wish you great success and continued vision.
Cheers, Megan
November 19th, 2009 9:30 am
Megan Lynch
ARE YOU KIDDING ME?
Wow, that was brilliant. And beautiful. And the score is stunning. Great, great work man.
December 1st, 2009 11:34 am
Barak
[...] Cart — The Film Written & Directed by Jesse Rosten Music composed by Peter Lance Released on July 30th, 2009 Cart – The Film on Vimeo [...]
January 10th, 2010 5:34 pm
Short Subjects - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community
I love whimsical, and this hit the nail on the head for me. It’s such a beautiful short.
February 17th, 2010 11:49 pm
Crow Skyler
[...] a short film by Jesse Rosten, explores this notion – in a whimsical and wonderful [...]
February 18th, 2010 5:46 pm
Re:Generator Magazine » Blog Archive » Taking a second look
I want a ride in that cart….
March 1st, 2010 1:45 pm
David Flanagan
Hi Jesse!
That was awesome!! We like to check up on you guys from time to time on the web. The pictures you did for us are still my favorite!! This short was amazing. Please tell Lyn we said hello.
Take care,
Rick and Kristina Harmon
March 7th, 2010 7:47 am
Rick & Kristina Harmon
Hi!
im Oliver from Spain, i was surfing in youtube searching a video about strobe and i found the strobe jetpack video, then i decided to visit your website and, look what i find! it`s a short film! so i saw and i think ‘THAT IS TREMENDOUS! Congratulations! the images, the music, the CART even the kid are PERFECT!
Buddy, you need an Oscar!
My congratulations!
Regards,
Oliver.
March 14th, 2010 3:49 am
Oliver
Hey,
I’m a filmmaker from Redding but am located in Seattle at the moment. A friend told me to check your stuff out and I loved it! Great job keep it up!
Thanks for the inspirations,
Ian
March 23rd, 2010 5:12 pm
Ian Van der Werff
This is a wonderful short film
The concept behind it is lovely 
Kudos to you for creating such a professionaly made video without having large sums of money to back it up 
More power to you Jesse 
March 31st, 2010 3:06 am
Janine
Wow that was very cool. Great quality. If you ever want to do a music video in Redding we’re available.
April 10th, 2010 2:30 pm
Rick Larsen
[...] Jesse Rosten – Cart – A Short Film [...]
May 23rd, 2010 1:03 am
Kyle Cheung - links for 2010-05-23
You’ve managed to lend such bravado & emotion to a lifeless cart. Fantastic!
May 23rd, 2010 3:57 pm
Rob O.
This was beautifully shot. The music was great, if slightly overbearing at times. It reminded me of the Chef Boyardee commercials where the can follows the kid home. Honestly, it would be so much better with a lot of editing. It’s just longer than it should be for such a simple story. Condense it into a 3 minute film and it would be much more compelling. In no way should it be longer than 5 minutes. I was enjoying it from the beginning, but the middle dragged quite a bit. Just do quicker edits, and take out the shots that don’t push the story forward, you’ll see a great improvement. Just my advice!
May 26th, 2010 8:33 pm
Mike
This was awesome! found it after watching ipad+velcro haha
you should check out Rahmin Bahrani’s short film “plastic bag” im sure you’ll enjoy it
great job!
May 26th, 2010 10:26 pm
Victoria
Thank you for such a masterpiece. That’s what I thought about but have not realized. My idea was also around cart but with advertisement bias. I imagine how much work you should do to shot such a film and what efforts it costs to arrange people and inspire them!!!
Thanks and kind regards from Russia!
May 27th, 2010 7:15 am
Grigory
auWww… what a fantastic short film inspiring me to move on to my film about transportation automation even more.
If only world of transport in the future would make us smile and cry as much as you did. Then the world would love life just that little bit more .. great story line cinematography and of course the music bring it all together to frames your wonderful acheivment. I’ve
tweeted this for more hits and well worth it
May 27th, 2010 4:23 pm
Robbie Kleij
[...] Ever wonder how abandoned shopping carts end up where they do? Me too. ‘CART’ Written & Directed by Jesse Rosten Music by Peter Lance Check out the BTS here. [...]
May 27th, 2010 10:41 pm
cart – a short film « mikepilmer.com – creative director & designer
Loving your vibe, your style & your work Jesse.
The opening kinda reminds me of The Days Go By video by Dirty Vegas – lovely Americana shot simply & beautifully. Great job @ creating such a subtly personality for the cart & not overdoing it.
Congrats on getting on the cool hunter as well.
Just about to send your site on to a few friends.
Thanks & respect from London.
Ollie
June 2nd, 2010 4:42 am
Ollie Brack
My young daughters and I just finished watching “cart” and loved it. We unanimously agree that it is well done. My nine-year-old started to cry because “it was so cute and touching.” We also loved the music. Where can we get a copy?
June 4th, 2010 10:08 pm
Evelyn
oh my gosh! absolutely brilliant!
the cart had human characteristics and emotions! i went OH NOOOO when the cart fell into the water!
June 5th, 2010 3:18 am
sue
Why wasn’t this story a happy ending?
The poor trolley at the end.
June 13th, 2010 10:57 am
Ellie
Found this link after seeing your iPad vid on Apple. Amazing stuff. Inspiring. Love what you were able to do with such a simple premise. I look forward to more work form you in the future.
June 28th, 2010 7:44 am
Billy Boyd Cape
[...] are the production notes below and be sure to check out Jesse Rosen’s website to see still photos of the film shoot. The idea for this film was hatched a few years ago. Lyn and [...]
June 29th, 2010 5:11 pm
Cart – a film by Jesse Rosten | macdavid pro
Wow, that is the best short film I have ever seen. It is flawless!!!!!!! Reminds me of “The Red Balloon”
July 1st, 2010 11:59 am
Carly
That was fantastic. Pure cinematic brilliance and yeah, I cried too.
July 21st, 2010 6:13 am
Jenn