Can you just talk about the original transporter effects?

In the original series, the computers were not nearly as sophisticated enough to do the kinds of special effects work we do on computers today. They had to be very creative and improvise different sorts of optical effects that would look interesting and cool on TV.

The transporter effect was basically created by a person taking little, tiny bits of aluminium foil and aluminium perchlorate, which is sort of a powdery version of aluminium, and then just letting them fall through the air against a black piece of cardboard, illuminating that from the side with a very bright light and then photographing that. When the characters were filmed walking into the transporter they would step on the pads, Captain Kirk would give the order to energize and the actors would then step off. In the lab, after the film was developed, they would superimpose the actors fading out and this fluttering aluminium fading in. It was a very simple, practical optical effect.