Actors and Collaborating (“Casting JonBenet Ramsey”)

I started watching the newest Netflix series “Casting JonBenet Ramsey” – I found it really interesting through the linkage of collaboration. Following the 1996 murder case of JonBenet Ramsey, the documentary series is shot in a really interesting way – following the actors who are auditioning for the ‘documentary series’ (there are six actors for each role). I thought this linked well with this weeks theme of collaboration – the actors are collaborating on the work to tell the story of the murder, putting in their own life stories (ie: where they were when they heard about the murder). I thought this was a pretty ingenious way of expressing not only the story (especially from someone who doesn’t know a whole lot about it) but also from an acting perspective, I thought it was really engaging to watch. The whole documentary had a really modern feel to it, although it was quite eerie. The producers didn’t give too much away (ie: I would have to research the little details if I was interested) but it gave enough background to keep the audience informed. I think the ideas surrounding collaboration could also be linked to true crime and the facts surrounding that. Crime’s such as this one had many different rumors and conspiracy theories (this can also link to click bait and ‘fake news stories’ especially those that come out of crime and murders). Even more fascinating about this show is that they involve actors and actresses (some have had pageant experience) from Boulder (the town where the Ramsey’s lived and where the murder took place) which sort of symbolizes a “community project” of sorts for this re-enactment/documentary.

The trailer for it is here:

 

The Filmmakers on the community aspect:

Both videos under the Youtube Standard License