Editing

I would just like to briefly touch on the editing portion of the film-making process. I honestly went into this part of my product totally ignorant and blind. I really don't know much about editing software, but I used Adobe Premier Elements and while it doesn't allow for a lot of the flashier graphics and transitions, I found that it was fairly user friendly and easy to use.
The first thing I did while I was editing (after uploading my video into the software) was cut down each scene to just what I wanted to use. This way when I started to put my timeline together it made everything a lot easier. I didn't mention this before, but, for timesake its always best to shoot all shots that occur at one location at one time or if someone only appears for part of the film shoot all of their scenes in one day. You can upload the film and cut the clips apart so you can put the movie together the way you want.
Make use of transitions!
I wanted you to notice how abrupt that was, if you don't transition well your audience will be turned off. Some of this also has to do with timing. Don't bore your audience. I had some difficulty with this mainly due to inexperience and the tight schedule I was on, but next time I know to always shoot some transitional scenes and when it doubt use the transition effects that come with the editing software.
Soundtracks are really easy to do. The one thing that was frustrating was not being able to afford licensing. Do not try to skirt around copyright laws. If your film becomes an internet sensation and Justin Timberlake's "SexyBack" is playing in the background, the Feds can bust down your door and arrest you for copyright infringement (though, JT is too cool to do something like that). There are plenty of websites with free music, downloadable in MP3 format, that are public domain. If you are lucky like me, you know someone musically inclined and can use their music. This works out really well because you can get them to give you their music for free, most of the time they are willing to edit it for your use, and it gives them exposure while making your film sound nice.
Credits are probably the last thing to worry about. With Adobe you simply have to click a button for the style of credits you want and you can edit them like you would any powerpoint.
Last, but not least, SAVE OFTEN! I don't know how many times a quick save prevented my entire project from being destoryed.

Have fun with your film. Once I got to this point, that was my goal and according to the reviews I have received it worked out pretty well.