Original footage lost but I can still view my project - how do I export?

Question

After creating a movie on iMovie 11, I acidentally deleted a large chunk of the original footage off of iMovie and off of my computer (I thought I had moved it to an external hard drive but it's not there).  I can't export or share the file because the computer doesn't have the original footage - it gives me this error message:  "MISSING MEDIA - The following event used in this project is not currently available.  The portions of the project which reference this event will show black frames."
This cuts out almost all of my 51 minute video, so that only about 14 minutes are still watchable.  However, I can still see the whole thing on the iMovie project itself, so it would appear that it's in there!  Is there any way to use what I've already edited even though the original footage is missing? 
Thanks for any help! 

Answer 1

If you have Shared or Finalized your original project, you can use that.
If you used SHARE/EXPORT MOVIE or SHARE/EXPORT USING QUICKTIME or SHARE to iTunes, you can use those copies.
If you Finalized or used SHARE/TO MEDIA BROWSER, you may have a copy inside your project package. I say MAY because this may be the copy you are seeing when you say the whole thing still plays. But usually, when you start to further edit a project, the first thing it does is delete the Media Browser copy.
To see the Media Browser copy, (if any), go to the Movies/iMovie Projects folder in the Finder and look for your project. It should have your project name and the extension .rcproject.
The rcproject file is really a package, so right click on the rcproject file and select "Show Package Contents". Look in the the Movies folder of the package to find any existing copies.
You can import these files back into an iMovie event using FILE/IMPORT/MOVIES...
I would suggest copying and pasting to your desktop (or location of your choice) before importing.