Animation Mentor is putting the student highlight back into the hands of the students.  We let students create whatever they want – revealing themselves by sharing video, text, and anything else they feel is appropriate.  If you are currently an Animation Mentor student and you’d like to participate, send an email to newsletter (at) animationmentor.com and we’ll do our best to fit you in!

Corinne Hawari- Class 5 - Short Film Pre-Production

Hi everybody! My name is Corinne Hawari, and I’m a 22-year-old piano teacher turned animation student! I’d always dreamt of becoming an animator, but never thought it was a possibility, so I ended up going to school for Graphic Design and Photography. One spring semester I decided to take a break from the GD classes, and took a general class in Maya for fun. Soon I was hooked.
In that class I learned how to model spaceships, terrains, bottles, gems and even how to create a virtual walk through of an apartment. Although I learned a ton, I still really wanted to learn computer animation, but it wasn’t offered anywhere.
Not too long after that, a friend and fellow Animation Mentor student Fawzi Yahya, introduced me to Animation Mentor and within months I had applied and was accepted.

It is easy to say that Animation Mentor is the best decision I’ve ever made!

If you haven’t applied yet… what are you waiting for?!

Animation Mentor:
What inspired you to learn animation?

Corinne Hawari:
Disney! Disney! Disney!

I had always dreamt of being an animator at Disney, since I was a kid in my pajamas watching The Little Mermaid and Saturday morning cartoons, but there was one problem – I couldn’t draw to save my life. If I could only find a way to animate without having to draw. :P It wasn’t until Kingdom Hearts came out that I really started to consider computer animation as a possible profession. The first thing I thought was “I can still work for Disney!” Ha ha.

Corinne Hawari:
My ultimate dream job would be to be a part of a feature that would hopefully reach out and touch the audience. I would have loved to work with the Nine Old Men, Glen Keane and many others, but as long as I can work doing what I love, surrounded by people I enjoy and learn from, I’d be more than happy!

Corinne Hawari:
Amazing! I love it and I have learned more in just a few months than I did in school for two and a half years! With the community, the mentoring, and the accessibility to so much information, Animation Mentor puts it all out there for you to become the best animator that you can be.

This has definitely been the best decision I’ve made yet.

Corinne Hawari:
Everything in animation was pretty new to me, so I found it all interesting, but what really caught my attention were the mechanics of the body. I never stopped to think how or why we take a step, what needs to move first in order to lift our arms over our heads or even why and when we blink. It’s like having to learn your body all over again!

Also, one of the most important things I’ve learned was planning. Proper planning is so important, and saves so much time when done correctly. Now if I can only follow my own advice more often. : P

Corinne Hawari:
Glen Keane is always the first to come to my mind when asked, but if given time to think about it, I’m not sure I can limit myself to just one. But all of Glen’s work continues to inspire me, so I would say he is definitely one of my top favorites!

Corinne Hawari:
Gosh… I don’t know if I can settle on just one favorite.

One of my all time favorite scenes is the transformation scene in Beauty and the Beast. Glen Keane’s transformation from Beast to Prince Adam was just amazing! Actually, I can pretty much pick out every scene from that movie and find them all equally amazing! It was such a beautiful film.

Corinne Hawari:
To my friends currently taking Animation Mentor, I want to thank you all for all of your amazing feedback and support. I know I couldn’t have gotten this far without all of your help and encouragement. You guys Rock!

To those considering Animation Mentor, and everyone else, I think Iestyn Roberts said it perfectly…