Hi all. I’ve perused this site for some time now but recently officially joined as a member after being inspired by many of the amazing edits and ideas for edits that I’ve come across here. The inspiration: I have a fairly radical Prequel Fan Edit idea for which I have developed the stories. The rub is that I have no experience with film editing or editing software. I’m looking for some advice as a complete newbie to this world and any insight would be most appreciated. These are the high-level questions I have:

If it’s possible, the project would ideally involve removing characters and/or objects from some existing scenes in several instances and inserting characters/objects from scenes into others. In most instances, the re-insertion of characters into scenes would be as holograms. If possible, what tools/software/techniques are best to use?
To help frame the stories differently than the originals, I will need to rely on the use of subtitles and changing existing subtitles for many of the alien characters in certain scenes. Again, what tools/software/techniques are best?
Is it even possible to self-teach these techniques (if they exist) via the web?
Which editing software would be best to incorporate these type of changes?

I have work-arounds already figured out if some or all of these type of edits are not possible but I feel strongly that it will make for a better trilogy if they can be used.

Again, all comments, insight, and advice are welcome and appreciated. Cheers.