1. Is there a good cheap service where I can have a short video promo done for my blog? 2. Which program would I use to create my own video, and would it be easy to learn? I want to basically take short clips of other videos and put them together to represent the topics that my blog covers. Also what are the legal issues here, if any? Can I use clips from images/videos that I find on the internet to create my own work, or is that illegal?
For making your own videos, the Windows Movie Maker that comes standard on PCs is quite good. It's got all the fade in/fade out effects, ability to lay down an audio track and pretty ergonomic interface. As for the legal situation, I'm no lawyer so I can't say, but it sounds like you wouldn't be able to use other people's stuff without permission.