Generating the Beam

For the abduction of my photographer, I needed the spaceship to fire a laser beam at him. This would allow for a visual guide as to what's happening to the photographer.

The Beam effect was made by adding an effect to a solid object. I then had to decide the direction of the beam, as well as the thickness of the starting and ending points of the beam. I then had to key the direction of the beam as it was fired, allowing it to move across the screen.

Additional effects were a pre-emptive glow on the ship, giving the impression of the beam being charged up before firing, and a glow on the beam as it travelled, and then the teleportation effect after the actor is hit by the beam.