Thanks for the compliments, but, well...
Adobe Premiere (link is to student purchase site) is a 'prosumer' product. It doesn't come on the cheap (all though
premere elements may do just the job) and has a pretty high learning curve. It is great software to know how to use though, and integrates well with other Adobe products.
I have never used ArcSoft products, but I know you can put together images and video (very basic though - rather limiting) with the freely available
Microsoft Movie Maker. My friends have used it with some basic projects and the results are very good for a free program. It includes some basic transitions and effects, but again, it is limiting. The Premiere Elements program I mentioned earlier may be the same way, I have never tried it. CNet gave it a 7.8/10 ("Pros: Imports video from different devices; improved interface; better DVD-menu options; Dolby-audio support" "Cons: Sluggish performance; can't import HDV or export to MPEG-4; sub par support"). I would suggest giving Windows Movie Maker a try before you buy anything. A brief guide for it is on
Microsoft.com's expert section. I would recommend using the DVD software you already have and know how to use for the DVD burning part (after you edit with WMM).
With the kickoff music, as
Andrew Blair says, its
Canned Heat.
Good luck with your film productions! The main thing I have learned with making movies is to always try to do something better with more features, in a shorter amount of time. Adding transitions to menus, for instance, the first time took me 3 weeks to figure out and design (using photoshop and premiere - school interruptions included). Don't give up and don't release crappy work that you will regret being under your name later (but don't let that hold you back from starting in the first place)!
EDIT: You can also do some very simple DVDs with Nero 7. (Great for stuff you don't want to spend too much time on presentation before the actual feature - such as showing the scrimamge video above to other members of our robotics team)
