About
mcyl
-Productions-
I'm Melody Lai, founder of mcyl productions, I created this company in early 2017 as a way to get the work I've been producing since 2012 out there to the world for job opportunities. It is also the year where my love for video production and graphic design became a clear career path I wanted to journey upon.
From a very young age I have always had a passion for anything that required me to be creative. I did well in school, and achieved good grades with academic subjects but excelled more in Art and Design & Technology. From the moment I could choose my own subjects to study, Art, Product Design, Media, and Graphics, became something I stuck with for the rest of my educational years.
I'm currently in my final year and final stages of being a student at Leeds Beckett University, studying Broadcast Media Technologies for 4 years with 1 year on student placement as an assistant Instructional Designer producing videos and graphic designs for Leeds Beckett's Distance Learning Department.
I hope to one day be able to make a living under my own brand, doing what I love for the rest of my life.
For more information about the work that I do and/or job opportunities, please do not hesitate to contact me.
(CV available upon request)
hello.
MCYL Productions
Factual
-Leeds Music Scene-
This was a group project in the second year of university.
The brief was to act like a real production crew with directors/editors/researchers/etc, working together to make a short documentary on a given topic, ours was music.
The first year of university, one of my assessments required me to make a video based on a subject given to by a peer. I got given the topic of 'politics'.
-budget 2014-
The videos above are just two of many informative videos I made while on student placement at Leeds Beckett University's Distance Learning department between the years of 2015-2016.
The purpose behind these videos were to let their off campus students know the help and services they can receive while studying at Leeds Beckett, regardless of their age, location, or distance.
To see more of my video work with Distance Learning, click HERE to be taken to the full playlist.
-Enterprise academy-
-Disability advice-
Videos
mcyl
-Productions-
Fictional
-Haunted Hunters trailer-
A first year university group project.
The brief was to make a film trailer, it could be on anything we wanted, and we had to work together to shoot the footage. However, the only rule was, we had to individually edit our own versions of the trailer, and this was the result of my edit.
This 2012 college project was what started off my interest in video making/editing. There was no brief to this project and I had free rein to make any type of video I wanted. I decided to make a 'new up and coming boy band' promo video for a fake band called "Lost Reason".
This AS media project has had a long lasting memory for me as it was the first time I ever scored an A grade throughout my time at high school/6th form.
-lost reason promo-
I was contacted by the 2015 president of Leeds University's BBC Society to create an animated advert letting their members know of their next event, a Potluck Picnic.
-Leeds university's bbc society- potluck picnic
-What is anime?-
animation
-Leeds beckett university-
Distance learning experience
While on work placement this project was given to me at short notice, but I managed to complete the video to a high standard, despite the short time frame of 3 weeks.
The brief was to create an animation informing Distance Learning students of what it's like to study on a distance learning course at Leeds Beckett University. They wanted their students to know that they are not alone and they have a big community to support them to get the best experience while on their student journey.
This animation was for my final year big project at university, and it spans across two semesters.
It was my first time playing with lip syncing and I think it worked quite well with the style and narrative of the animation.
Although a little stressful at times, I still had a lot of fun creating this and would like to create more animations like this in the future.
I'd love to have more chances to play around with lip syncing.
A second year university project.
The brief was to create a weather report using graphics and animation to create the 'map'.
I decided to theme mine around Hello Kitty.
-Sanrio Weather Report-
Motion graphics
-bouldering 101-
A final year project at university.
The video was made for my client, The Climbing Depot Leeds.
The brief was to create any kind of video but it had to have elements of motion graphics in there. As it was a final year project the graphics had to be advanced and to a high quality standard.
A final year university project in collaboration with 2nd year students on the Music Performance and Production course.
This ident was created for the live event I was the Producer for, it was played during set changes and breaks/intervals.
-BMTXMPP Live event VT-
Second year university project.
The brief was to create a recipe video and inject it with a lot of kinetic typography and motion graphics.
-kinetic typography-
brownie recipe
-stop motion-
fashion
Second year university project.
The brief was to create a 7 second video using stop motion technique. I included some graphics in there to make the video more effective.
live event
-BMTXMPP Live event-
For one of my final year modules I had to take part in some live events, and the video was to be live streamed online.
For this event, I was the Producer, my responsibilities included prepping the production crew and making sure everyone was aware of the jobs in their roles. During filming I had to make sure the night was going smoothly and we didn't stray too far away from the time schedule, while also doubling up as floor manager.
-BA Fashion show-
This live event was in collaboration with Leeds Beckett's BA Fashion course leader. The brief was that the students would be having an end of year catwalk show, showcasing their final collections and designs from the last few years from being on the course.
As I was Producer for this show, my responsibilities included directing the crew, pre show and during show time. Scheduling the crew for filming rehearsals along side the model's walk through in order for a smooth stream during the night.
-england handball finals-
For this live event coverage I was a Runner.
My main task was to keep an eye on the on target and off target shots, then calculate a possession percentage for each team to hand to our live graphics maker and the commentators.
Pre-show tasks included helping to set up the filming equipment and grabbing drinks for the crew. I would also pass messages on from one team member to another on the other side of the arena.
-Trinity leeds student takeover-
A first year university project, the brief was to film a live event.
This was another group project, we were given the opportunity to film Trinity Leeds' annual Student Takeover in 2014.
It was an event where we didn't have full control of the environment, therefore giving us all a valuable experience in live event filming.
After filming we all had to produce an individual edit of the event.
-alto flocc // deadwall-
Productions i've worked on
In January 2017
This section is dedicated to the companies that have allowed me to gain valuable industry work experience with them on the set of their video shoots.
(disclaimer - I have not produced these videos, I have only taken part in the filming process)
-alto flocc // deadwall-
Productions i've worked on
In January 2017 I was given the opportunity to work shadow Dawn and Sean Pearson of Twenty Twenty Films, a TV, film, and video production company based in Bradford, West Yorkshire.
The production was a 2 days music video shoot for the band Alto Flocc's new single, Deadwall.
My role was Production Assistant, and my responsibilities included helping Dawn to make sure the cast and crew was happy and that the time schedule was being stuck to as closely as we could.
As the production crew was very small, I would therefore also help Sean and his assistant to set up the next scenes, stand in for test shoots, and assist in moving equipment to the next filming location.
This section is dedicated to the companies that have allowed me to gain valuable industry work experience with them on the set of their video shoots.
(disclaimer - I have not produced these videos, I have only taken part in the filming process)
Websites
mcyl
-Productions-
Building Your Site
I make these websites using a mixture or Adobe Photoshop, and Illustrator for the images, text, and some of the logo designs. Then I'll use Wix to piece everything together, I make the websites from scratch and only use Wix as a means of hosting the site as it is convenient.
I can also make your site mobile friendly if you wish to have that function for your site.
Please note, once I've completed your site you will have to pay to get/use your own personal domain, and you will need to change some of the account settings, such as your email address, social media log in details, etc. Unless you are happy to give them to me during the building process.
Further support will be given to you should you need it after the handover.
For more information please do not hesitate to contact me.
Clients
Scoop Up are an ice cream sandwich making company based in South Manchester, consisting of three friends, Sarah, Mark, and Kiki.
The company had certain elements they knew they definitely wanted to include on the site, but apart from that the brief was quite open and they left most of the design decisions down to me, they were happy to give me full control of the overall look and feel of their site.
scoop up
The brief:
We want it to feel fun and adventurous as though we are different from the normal ice cream. Things we want people to know are that everything we make is homemade and we try and source everything locally! Also most people will probably look at it while out and about so the site must be mobile friendly.
Click the link to see the site in action!
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Below I have selected a few images from desktop view and mobile view.
for more details click onto the images.
freelance
based in leeds, west yorkshire, uk
Videographer - Animator - Web Designer - Photographer - Graphic Designer
Gallery
mcyl
-Productions-
To see what projects I'm currently working on and generally what I'm up to, don't forget to follow me on Instagram.
Contact Me
mcyl
-Productions-
Follow me on Instagram!
Questions?
If you have any questions, want to know more, or have a job opportunity, please do not hesitate to contact me using the form below. I check my emails regularly so I will respond to you as soon as I can. In the meantime, follow my socials to be kept up to date with my latest projects if you like.
I look forward to hearing from you!