Recently my cousin and I have started writing a script and making preparations for shooting. It?s going to be a low-budget production. To give you and idea of how low, we?re using two 500 watt floodlights mounted on cymbal stands for lighting, borrowing a microphone from a friend, using a homemade steadycam, and shooting, for the time being, in hi8. But we might go ahead and rent a descent camera from a local place. I?ve scoured the library and internet, and watched the special features on every DVD I have, and I still have a few questions.

Editing
There are about six people involved thus far, and amongst us we have both vegas and premiere. The other day, I was applying some effects to some test shots in vegas. I upped the contrast and color saturation, and did a little sharpening. When I rendered the video, it was blotchy, and the file was huuuuge! Like a gig for 10 mins. Was it blotchy because of the effects, or the shity camera, and in what format should I render it to reduce the file size?

Sound
I have a Sound Blaster Audigy 2 in my pc, which allows me to record audio straight to my hard drive. So my question is, since we?re not using film, should I even bother with a DAT recorder?

Projection
Our goal is to finish this film by Oct 31, Halloween. My partner was talking about renting a screen at a local theatre for a midnight showing, and putting up flyers and what not. But since everything?s going to be digital, I don?t know how we could project it. Could we actually use the big screen, or would we have to use a little classroom screen kinda thing?

I would be extremely grateful for any help. Thanks in advance.