A lot can be done with After Effects, too, but it'll probably be too much for someone to explain in a reponse to your thread.
You'll be compositing shots to create/modify existing footage and will likely be rotoscoping (lightsabers and composite layer elements). Check out Creative Cow for some free tutorials and poke around to see the training they have for sale on DVD.
You can also check out Lynda.com, a training pay site, for some sample After Effects tutorials.
If you have specific questions on tricks with the methods you begin to use, people on this site will probably have more to say; you can also ask folks at the Creative Cow forums.
Good luck with your project.