Recover deleted user account

I think i already know the answer to this but thought would throw it out here for suggestions.

I recently bought a new Mac and set it up fine. When it came to migrating all my files from my MacBook, the option i wanted was to use the migration assistant, which of course creates a "new" user account, ie my previous user account. I did this with the intention of deleting the user account created when i set up the Mac.

However, at some point i transferred a bunch of iMovie files over from my external HD which i was planning to use as my time machine backup drive. I dont think i did anything to transfer these files to the account created by migration assistant (i did with my iPhoto library which was also on the the external HD!). In my haste and excitement i deleted the user account and now i have lost my iMovie files (yes I formatted the external HD).

I did a full deletion of the account (ie dont save the files etc) so I expect that those files are now gone. I presume the only way to recover them would be some specific file recovery software? Its not a big deal as i still have all the original footage and copies of the movies on DVD (just not in iMovie format) but wanted to ask.

Paul