cbaka : I do have a couple of ideas for how to do the Palp/Sidious metamorphosis, but the surprise (if either idea works) will need to wait. The scene flip was intentional, and I like the emotional quality it seems to impart, a visual change that underscores the character change in Anakin. However, I'm not sure I will keep it as the set doesn't allow for such an expansion of the room in reality; it may work, however, since the original scene never really gives a sense of the room's full scope. Also, so much of the film seems to be shot from the right of the characters, and I didn't notice how much this bothered me until I had the idea for the flip; it made the movie suddenly seem more cinematic.
jedi_jra : It's great to hear that you really enjoyed the scene edit; that's extra fuel for the tank on this long journey! Thanks for your edit suggestions for the Anakin/Padme scene. The funny thing is that the only thing I edited in that scene was cutting the final shot of Padme out since C3PO pointlessly entered the scene and bowed to her! This scene was really the only scene that I remember liking in the theater, because it was so character- and emotionally-centered. If I remove Palpatine's telepathic message to Anakin as has been suggested to me, I may need to cut the scene similarly to your suggestions, but hopefully the pace of it as is will be a nice part of the new movie flow. As for Anakin saying "You can't!", I sincerely hope that his need of Palpatine will be understood by this point in the movie and that I will not need to include the line as it makes me cringe. I'll need to wait and see if subtlety will work in this regard.
kerr : Sorry to hear that you are sans computer! I hope you can get a proper one soon. To your comments: 1) The silence will be fixed. 2) The line makes me cringe, so hopefully I won't need to use it; maybe the gradual build-up to this point with Anakin will make his need of Palpatine apparent. 3) Yeah, the intercutting was mostly a rough representation of the change, and I am planning to do more with it that will make it feel more "Starwarsy". 4) Hayden Christensen's acting makes me cringe at this line, too. I may need to put it back in, though, as the pacing of this part of the scene seems a bit off as is. 6) LOL! Ironically, I wanted a title that was more in line with "A New Hope", so the reason you dislike it is kind of a compliment that I hit the mark I was trying for! I do think that "The Phantom Menace" was a lame Star Wars title, though. And, finally, 7) the edit will be 5.1 (unless I can't figure out how to put it on DVD that way, but I don't think that will be much of an issue).
Onto more editing! I'll be continuing work on the rough cut of the entire film and then going back and finessing it. The rest of the movie has me a bit nervous becasue of all of the changes I hope to make. I'm going to keep my fingers crossed that it doesn't all end up falling apart!