The Last Wave

Ideas for the 'Apocalypse' scene in The Last Wave (Peter Weir, 1977)

• Stripped Back- Make everything seem 'underwater'. Very stripped away, perhaps just very exaggerated, muffled, slow windscreen wiper sounds, the rythmic thudding of these could almost sound like a super-slow heartbeat. The occasional exaggerated, gloopy bubble sound (milk blown thrown a thick straw?) when bubbles are seen. This approach could be coupled with a low, ominous hum as an atmos/soundtrack to add to the eiree mood.
• Dramatic- Again use the underwater muffledness for the wiper blades etc, but this time with a dramatic, ominous and melancholy soundtrack/score to fit the scenes of death. To increase the drama/tension mix in terrified screams and shouts of the dying, cars being hurled together by the waves, the crash of the water itself- but edit all of these sound so they seem echoey and distant (through Channel EQ) so they symbolise the echoes of the events that led to all these people being dead and floating underwater.
• Alternative- We see the protagonist listening to his car radio before he has the apocalyptic premonition. An alternative way to sound this piece could be to have a completely inappropriate, out of place track on this radio, for example a grand, sweeping classical overture, but of a tinny, poor car stereo quality. We would hear the radio crackle and die as water pours through it, but as soon as he looks up to find himself underwater surrounded by corpses the track could kick back in, at a far greater quality and volume than ever before. If the correct track was found, this juxtaposition could be highly effective.  Perhaps something Fur Elise by Beethoven, as the gently sweeping music could fit quite effectively with the seeming serenity of the underwater scene, yet be at odds with the obviously macabre content>