Guess the Candidate is an online game featuring actors performing policy statements on education from 8 Democratic presidential hopefuls from the 2020 election cycle. The actors perform the policy statements in tight verbatim and loose verbatim. The user has the option to choose an easier version of the game (tight) or a more difficult version of the game (loose).
In both cases, the actor has studied and learned the exact speech and gestural patterns of the candidate’s delivery of their policy statement. In the tight verbatim version, the actor performs the policy statement as close to the original speaker as possible. In the loose verbatim version, the actor follows the speech and gestural pattern of the original, but performs in their own voice and body.
Guess the Candidate asks the user to consider the following question:
Can you recognize a candidate when their message is separated from their identity?
The Performers
Andrea Ambam performing Andrew Yang
Tight Verbatim
Loose Verbatim
Original Artifact Timestamp (1:59:38-2:00:43)
Analisa Gutierrez performing Joe Biden
Tight Verbatim
Loose Verbatim
Original Artifact Timestamp (2:07:23-2:08:43)
Durell Cooper performing Pete Buttigieg
Tight Verbatim
Loose Verbatim
Original Artifact Timestamp (2:00:48-2:02:03)
Daryl Embry performing Elizabeth Warren
Tight Verbatim
Loose Verbatim
Original Artifact Timestamp (2:02:05-2:03:35)
Sarah Misch performing Amy Klobuchar
Tight Verbatim
Loose Verbatim
Original Artifact Timestamp (4:24-5:13)
Stephanie Anderson performing Cory Booker
Tight Verbatim
Loose Verbatim
Original Artifact Timestamp (10:30-11:26)
Suzy Jane Hunt performing Bernie Sanders
Tight Verbatim
Loose Verbatim
Original Artifact Timestamp (20:18-21:50)
Scott Michael Morales performing Kamala Harris
Tight Verbatim
Loose Verbatim
Original Artifact Timestamp (6:57:33-6:59:34)
Production Credits
Verbatim Production Lab Production Team
Created by:
Joe Salvatore & Keith R. Huff
Production Manager:
Cassie Holzum
Costume Design:
Márion Talán
de la Rosa
Video Editor:
Andy Wagner
Captioning:
Petra Chiabi
Research & Social Media:
Megan Abbanat
Mary Kate Abner
Sudaraka Aryiaratne
Ashley Cambers
Saya Jenks
Lilly Stannard
Fulbright Research Fellow:
Blayne Welsh
Technical Support provided by NYU Steinhardt Academic Technology Team
NYU-TV Production Team
Sound & Lighting Design:
Willie Bruno
Costume Coordinator:
Márion Talán
de la Rosa
Director:
Toni Urbano
Technical Manager:
s.o. O’Brien
Photography:
Nora Lambert
Jose Arteaga
Video Production Coordinator:
Patricia Martinez
Technical Director/Camera Operator:
Kevin Gannon