Task 2 entailed comparing the film 'The 300 Spartans' which was released in 1962, with its remake of '300', which was released in 2006. I analysed how society has an external influence on the making of a production. My document is linked above.

1. Units 25 & 26
Task 2
Millie West
The 300 Spartans (1962) and 300 (2006)
This illustrative essay will compare the films ‘The 300 Spartans’ (1962) directed and
produced by ​Rudolph Maté ​and ‘300’ (2006) directed by Zack Snyder. Each topic spoken
about will compare the original movie with its remake.
The genre of ‘The 300 Spartans’ is mainly one of a historical epic, which aims to replicate,
include or base its events around a historical moment in time. In the 1960s cinema was very
popular, and so it was believed that a piece of media that centers itself around the genre of a
historical epic would attract large audiences. At the same time the infamous cold war was at
its peak, and this is clearly represented in the film. The cold war began in 1947 and lasted
until 1991. After the second world war, it was essentially the battle for power, and the top two
contenders were the USA and the USSR. It is commonly known that the Americans were the
smaller force yet still high in power of the two, whilst the Russians were a significantly larger
force, still with great power. The film is almost a form of propaganda to represent this
historical battle for power, because the Spartans are meant to represent the Americans -
small but mighty, the David to Goliath if you will; whilst the Persians represent the USSR a
much larger opposition again with great power and force. The producers incorporated at the
time, modern situations into its production. This was a huge external factor that influenced
how the film ran and what it consisted of. These type of films became increasingly popular,
which, in turn, led to other productions, such as one's like ‘Ben Hur’ (1959), ‘Spartacus’
(1960), ‘El Cid’ (1961), ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ (1962), and ‘Cleopatra’ (1963). Due to its
popularity, the industry pumped money into films of this genre as they knew that they were
bound to do well.
“300” is classed as a historical action fantasy. The film started its own genre and was new to
Hollywood. It is based on a graphic novel, and this is shown through the the effects and
colours used in the film, which are similar to that of the novel. “Sin City” (2005) was the first
film to ‘bring a comic to life’ followed by “300”. The reason the comic like movie was done, is
due to its popularity. As the style increased in admiration from audiences, the media
production “Beowulf” (2007) was produced. Although it was animated, it was still comic
based. Through the use of CGI, the realism of the comic based movie was possible. A
significant amount was needed as many of the scenes produced in the comic, were not
possible to create and reconstruct without it. Comic-book style violence was used in the film
“300”. It was exaggerated due to its increased popularity and the fact that it is widely
accepted in society.
The use of CGI was a common trend used in this genre of film. Other trends include the
incorporation of the 2000 “War of terrorism”, for example 9/11. America was trying to free
terrorism that was occurring in 2006 and the film is almost a form of propaganda to show
that the Americans were trying to save the world. The film technically tries to justify what the
US were trying to do and in relation to the film, this was “freeing people from the Persians”.
The film not only relates to, but intentionally represents modern society. America represents
the Spartan empire, small but powerful and trying to stop harm, whilst the terrorism in society
represents the Persians who can be large in numbers and try to cause mass harm to others
for the wrong reasons. Big epics such as one like this became more popular in the mid

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2000s. Lots of time and money goes into creating these huge films which means that they
come out infrequently. This can be seen as a positive aspect as the wait creates huge
anticipation and hype.
The stars included in “The 300 Spartans” were
chosen for the job for a specific number of
reasons. These external factors had an
influence the film and not only increased its
popularity but gave their characters a special
touch. Richard Egan was allocated the role of
King Leonidas. Egan was chosen due to play
this role due to the Hollywood heartthrob that he
had; women fancied him, he was eye candy.
Whilst women wanted to be with him, men
wanted to be him, and this facor made him appealing to all audiences.
Sir Ralph Richardson, known in “The 300 Spartans”
for his role of Themistocles, King Leonidas’ right
hand man, was chosen for the role due to the fact
that he is extremely well respected. His knighthood
emphasises his respectability, and as a person of
high authority in contemporary society, he was the
perfect candidate to be a powerful politician in the
historical epic.
Finally, Dianne Baker was utilised due to her young
looks - a pretty and kind face. The reason it was so
important for a young female to be featured as a main
character - Ellas, was because the producers believed
that she could be relatable to the audience, especially
the young viewers who were and are trying to break out
and rebel in their teenage years, as this were her role in
the movie. Baker’s role was to rebel against Spartan law
and do the opposite of the norms in society. The love
story following her and her lover is also a way that the
audience is supposed to relate to her and her character. Their love story also represents the
the hippy movement that was occurring during the time in which the film was produced. It is
clear, in the scenes with the two young lovers, that the female had more of an active role
than the male, as the man was listening to and following the advice of his partner.
Similarly in the film “300”, actors were chosen specifically for the traits that they had and the
impact that they could have on the audience. Gerard Butler was allocated the role of King
Leonidas in order to emphasise the hypermasculinity that was creeping into society at the
time. That is, men trying to exaggerate their masculine behaviours, such as aggression,
sexuality, strength and lack of sensitivity and what would be considered feminine emotions

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and traits. This is also reflected in the [lack of] clothing of the Spartan soldiers - to promote
the hypermasculine image.
In all scenes, Butler gives off the impression that his character has strength, courage and
determination and this is intensified through his motivation and aggression. His actions and
words show that he is hard core, and with his loud voice, he is able to capture the audience
and create everlasting knowledgeable scenes. He was also chosen to take the lead role in
this film due to the fact that he gives off vibes that he is someone that people would want to
hang around with, and this makes him likeable. His physique makes his relatable. In
contemporary society, people are concerned with their appearance and he clearly is, as it
can be seen due to the way his body looks and his actions throughout the movie.
Lena Headey also known as the King’s wife - Queen Gorgo, was
chosen to be part of “300” because she is a strong and independent
woman, and this is shown both in society and throughout the movie.
She says it how it is, there’s no beating around the bush, she cuts to
the point and says what needs to be said, and in terms of Sparta,
this is seen as rebellious. In interviews prior to and after the release
of the film, she is shown to do the same. Her ‘turbulent’ behaviour is
portrayed in the film through the way that she dress’ and speaks and
she stands her ground to prove that she is and will act against male
dominance.
There is a clear difference between the screen time allocated to the main stars in the 1960s
version and its modern counterpart.
In the 1960s version, the handful of big-name attractions had a lot more screen time and
dialogue, as they were the “main attraction” for the audience, as was the trend with such
films at the time. However, by the 2000s, more films were beginning to feature more than
just a handful of big-name stars. Therefore, they would dedicate a more equal proportion to
these actors. This reflected the diverse nature of the film industry at the time.
When creating any media production, there are always financial determinants. In the first
production of “The 300 Spartans”, the budget they received to create it was $8,500,000. This
money went towards shipping over the cast, crew, equipment, wardrobe and props to
Greece, as this is where 98% of the production was filmed. This determinant would have
used up a significant percentage of the overall budget, but it was more than necessary. In
addition, the production company needed to hire the Greek land from the government to
enable them to film, again this would use another significant sum of money. The film needed
to be filmed in Athens and other surrounding cities to create realism and have the audience
in awe and excited about it. Considering CGI was new technology, yet so rare that it was
hardly used, and only in recent years has become more popular, the budget had to include
the cost of paying the thousands of extras that were used to create both the Spartan and
Persian empires and members. Moreover, the cost of wardrobe and props had to be
considered in the final budget as they all had to be hand made for each and every person
(including the extras) who needed one.

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In comparison, the budget for the movie “300” was significantly higher. The budget that was
allocated to create this film came to $65 million. As mentioned previously, the production
company received a large budget because the genre was so popular at the time, and so
money was constantly pumped into these types of films. The money was used to hire the
actors needed to star in this production (those mentioned above as well as others). In
addition the money was split up to enable the hiring and building of studios and sets to film
in. This is dissimilar to the original film as all bar one scene of the movie was filmed inside (a
studio or set). Prop preparation for the film took approximately 60 days and so those hired to
create them would have needed to be paid through the money allocated to do so in the
budget. Money would have also needed to be distributed to the materials needed to create
them. The majority of the money from the budget would have been allocated to the post
production stages of creating this piece of media. The post production stages included the
buying and creating of sound that was needed to create an atmosphere and tone in the
movie. This included both sound tracks and sound effects. Hiring editors to do this job would
have also used a large sum of money from the budget. 98% of the film had some sort of
visual effect added to it, and this was mostly done by CGI. Examples of this include
photoshopping and airbrushing the bodies of warriors and soldiers, to make them seem
bigger, stronger and more powerful than they already are. Moreover, the addition of the
photoshop and airbrush effect was used to make the bodies of the warriors look smooth and
comic like. The budget also included the use of either hiring or buying green and blue
screens to aid the editing stages of the production, to make realism possible. Not only was
money spent on technology used to create the production, but prior to filming it, money was
spent on hardcore training for the ‘soldiers’ that were going
to be featured in the film. This was to bulk up their bodies
and make their soldier like acts seem realistic. In the film
“The 300 Spartans” the warriors can be seen wearing body
armour, in contrast in the film “300” no body armour is worn
by the spartan soldiers. The reason for this being that the
producers wanted to show off the men's bodies, and this
may be due to female gaze, (which is spoken about in more
detail later) and the desire to enhance hypermasculinity.
In terms of technology “The 300 Spartans” would have used the best technology that was
available at the time. They would have used the best cameras and the best sound recording
equipment that was readily available to them at the current time of production. Little or no
CGI was available to them to use in terms of editing and so they had to do what they could
without it - which is all they knew. They used the best editing techniques known to them and
this most likely included the use of the Steenbeck. This meant that they had money to spend
on other things, unlike “300”, which spend a large amount of its budget on the
post-production elements. The production team and camera crew used 35mm film to shoot
the production. If any editing was to have occurred, it would be unsurprising if it was the use
of colour editing, to adapt the look and feel of shots.
Unlike the original, the remake of the Spartan film will have been shot with modern - as we
know it technology equipment, that which is significantly better than the technology used to

5. Units 25 & 26
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create the first film. The film was transcoded and put into a digital format so that it could be
edited and manipulated in terms of the way it looked, more easily. It was put into a 2K format
which enabled CGI to be used. After the 60 days of constant filming, excluding rehearsals
and training, he post-production process took approximately a year because the raw footage
needed to be ordered into a rough cut, then edited as well as sound checked and sound
edited. This included more than 1,500 visual effects shots. The CGI equipment used was the
most modern around at the time (and most likely still is) and was by far the best equipment
that one could get. I discovered that approximately 18 companies handles the special effects
in this one film, and each of those companies used their speciality to bring the film to life. As
previously mentioned blue screen technology was used. Green screens are more commonly
well known, but blue was used to ensure that there were no colour clashes or obstructions
that may have been caused (through the use of colours worn by actors) throughout the
production process. The majority of soldiers outfits were red and there was a little (if any)
blue clothing or items used, and so this made blue a perfect colour for the screen, as green
may have clashed with the grass seen in the production. This would have obstructed the
editorial stages of the production.
Distribution and exhibition a huge parts of producing a piece of media. Considering “The 300
Spartans” came out so early in terms of other media productions, cinema was the only form
of distribution that could be used to exhibit the film. (At the time) Production companies had
no other option to distribute their productions and it was known that if I piece of media was
missed at the cinema, one would not be able to see it again.
In dramatic contrast the film “300” was able to distribute its media across a range of
platforms. These included the cinema, which was shortly followed buy a DVD option of the
film which was available once it had come out of the cinema. In addition the PSP game “300
March to Glory” game came out as an expansion of the storyline which is hinted in the end of
the 2006 film. Not only does the game show and expansion of the storyline, it also gives an
insight into the pre battle context and offers information about it. In addition, the game does
the same for the battle and post battle stages of this famous war. This
type of distribution, across different platforms and timelines of a media
text is called transmedia. In addition, a website was created for fans and
browsers who were looking for
information, posters, storylines, video
games, trailers, and behind the
scenes footage, regarding the movie.
Finally, as society begins to
modernise, illegal streaming sites
have also been used to watch this
movie.
Synergy regards the use and number of platforms a piece of media can be distributed on.
“The 300 Spartans” only used one form of synergy, and this was the film. No other
techniques were necessary or used as they had no opportunity to synergize their film on any
other platform. Again, in comparison, “300” used synergistic techniques to promote the
brand across a range of platforms. As previously mentioned, the brand was first produced

6. Units 25 & 26
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Millie West
as a graphic novel. The second platform closely followed with the production of the film.
Video games were then introduced to expand the storyline - this was made for the sequel
and counts as another form of synergy. The reason that this film came out on many
platforms, was to widen its potential audience. For example, if members of the audience
enjoyed the film, then they may be more likely to invest in the video game to expand upon
the storyline that they had received from the movie. This can give a wide experience of a
brand to its audience. This idea of synergy can work in a number of ways, for example, if a
person is primarily more interested in video games (rather than films) and enjoys playing
“March to Glory”, then they may be more willing to go out and watch the movie and
recommend it to friends, creating a domino effect and a positive turnover for the brand.
Gender is represented in a number of ways throughout the duration of both films. In the film
“The 300 Spartans” there is a clear patriarchal society shown. The majority of characters
shown in the movie tend to middle aged men who have high authority or power in the
spartan community. There is also an evident hierarchy of persians and again, this is mainly
formed of men. At the top there is Xerxes the ruler of the persian army and soon to be ruler
of the world. Simply the fact that there is a male leader at the top of both the Spartan army
and Persian hierarchy, says that the all living in those times were affected by male
dominance. This film had external influences that came from society at the point in time that
it was produced. This film, as well as others released at the time can be seen as a form of
propaganda to emphasise that communism is bad and that there would be consequences if
it was introduced to the American political and social systems, and so the film is almost used
as a warning signal to ensure that it doesn't happen and if it does, what the impacts would
be.
The film makes it obvious that women who lived through the
time of the “Battle of Thermopylae” had less, little or no
status than men. One example of this is that whilst the men
are in the room and sitting on chairs, the women are sitting
on the floor, which physically emphasises there lower status
and level in society. Another time that this is shown is when
the women stop talking after men walk into the room.​ ​Again,
this shows that what the men have to say is
‘clearly’ more important, regardless of what the
women are talking about. This again represented
that women in society in the 1960s had little or no
authority or power. In addition to this, all bar one
woman is used for the appeal of the Male Gaze
theory which was invented by Laura Mulvey in
1975. The Male Gaze is a theory that explains how
women are exploited through the use of their bodies (and other features) for the visual
pleasure of men and can definitely be applied to the film. Not only do the main characters in
the production show femininity and its exploitation, but the use of the extras do to.
Throughout the entirety of the film only one woman has power - the queen. Even still her
power does not mean that she gets any respect, in fact it does the opposite and my point is
proven that women are seen to have little if any status in society. It is evident that women

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are always stood behind the men. The males are in the foreground of the shots and the
women tend to be in the background.
When women are shown on screen, they are shown
as weak and incapable, without the help of a man.
At one point, King Xerxes says “A woman's tongue
is deadlier than the sword”, which emphasises men’s
opinion of women at the time. Because women have
little power and say in society, when they say
something insulting or hurtful, it is seen to hurt more
than physical pain.
In the film ‘300’ similarly, Laura Mulvey’s (1975)
Male Gaze theory is applicable. This is done
through the way that they dress and the profanity
used in the film and as a result, women are
almost likened to objects rather than humans.
For example the queen dresses in a surprisingly provocative manner, as seen on the right.
Not only is the male gaze applicable, but so is the female gaze; this is a theory that opposes
the male gaze and suggests that men are used in media productions for the visual pleasure
of women. For example through the simple fact that the majority of the time, all of the
spartan soldiers who are trained, bulky and strong are topless. Yet in contrast to ‘The 300
Spartans’ we see that women in this film are increasingly more part of society. Men are at
the top of the societal hierarchy with women beside them, rather than beneath them, which
is what is portrayed in the original film. A prime example of this is when King Leonidas turn
to his wife to know whether or not he should kill the Persian messenger. The queen simply
nods her head and the messenger in kicked down into a pit, not to be seen or heard from
again. The rest of the spartans follow his actions and the messengers associates fates are
sealed. A huge difference between the original film and the re-make, is that the king
considers himself to be on the same level as the rest of Spartan society, no matter who they
are. This is a sign of the times, in the mid 2000s, there was a lot more emphasis on gender
equality in society. On one occasion do we see the queen try and gain power and respect in
society and this is when she speaks to the council on behalf of her husband about his
decision to go to war with Persia. Although the only way that she was able to speak in front
of the council in the first place was through being
blackmailed. The queen was blackmailed into
being abused in order to have her say and so
even though she did receive the tiniest bit of
power to speak in front of the powerful, the only
way for that to happen in the first place was
through men allowing it (and blackmailing her into
it). This proves that men still had the power over
women.

8. Units 25 & 26
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The queen never smiled. She was the only one who truly understood the extent of the
situation, other than the king. She knew that it was unlikely that she would ever see her
husband again and that her country was in danger, yet no one took the time to listen to her.
The famous line “Only spartan women give birth to real men.” This shows the queens pride
of being a Spartan and in conjunction to gender, it portrays the idea that other men are
worthless.
In relation to the representation of age in ‘The 300 Spartans’, only
white upper class, middle aged men were used. This was a
reflection of what America was like at the time - a country full of
working successful, white, middle-aged men. No children were used
in the making of this film and this is because it was believed that the
role of children was to be seen and not heard. It was believed that
they played no part in society and they added nothing to it. As
mentioned previously, there was the increasing movement of young
rebels occurring at the time of the
films release. This external influence
is portrayed in the film through the love story which we are able
to follow. The love story consists of two young lovers wanting
to be together through a tough time. We see that they will do
anything and everything to be together whilst the male
counterpart is fighting for his country.
In the film ‘300’ there is a significant contrast in the way that age is portrayed. At the
beginning of the film an old man is holding a newborn baby off of the edge of a cliff. The
reason for this being that it was believed that if a child was seen to be deformed in anyway,
they were no good to Spartan civilisation and would consequently be thrown off of the cliff,
and so in this instance the old man is analysing the baby for any possible defects. We later
come to realise that this baby is in fact the child who later becomes to be King Leonidas.
The film shows and reflects all ages ranging from newborns to the elderly and everything in
between. Similarly to ‘The 300 Spartans’ film, this is a reflection of what society was like at
the time of release for the remake of the film. This external influence showed that no matter
what age you are, you are important. Contemporary society came to realise that children
were the future and they do in fact help to contribute towards it in a number of ways - and
this is heavily reflected in the film. In contrast to ‘The
300 Spartans’, again a range of ages were used to
make up the council. Society at the time of the films
release clearly had a huge impact on the way that
films were chosen to be portrayed, and how the
producers wanted the audience to understand the
film’s messages.
Ethnicity was a main characteristic for producers’
consideration when making these films. There is
evidence that the ethnic makeup of society at the
time of production influenced these films to be made.

9. Units 25 & 26
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In ‘The 300 Spartans’, every single one of the actors used were caucasians - even the
Persians. All characters were played by white actors who were made to look darker skinned.
This was due to high racism at the time of production. It is clear that audiences want and
almost have a need for their to be no non-white actors shown in media productions. This is
similar to the film ​Breakfast at Tiffany's​ (1961). Mickey Rooney was a caucasian male actor
who was made to look like a Japanese character. This decision was made (instead of hiring
a Japanese actor) because producers knew it would not be accepted by the audience to
have non-white characters on screen and so even though specific ethnic roles where
necessary for some productions, caucasians were used and made to look the part of any
character. A key example of this in ‘The 300 Spartans’ is when the Asian Fighters known as
the “Immortals” were played by white male actors and made to look as though they were part
of the foreign army and exotic. At the time, Xerxes army would have been made up of
people from Asia, Africa and Europe, yet only caucasian actors would have used.
In America the Civil Rights Movement was occurring at
the time of ‘The 300 Spartans’ film production. Martin
Luther King whose campaign began in the 50s and 60s
put forward the everlasting idea that regardless of what
ethnicity you are, everybody is equal. This film was
almost the fuel to the fire of the campaign as not only
was the film historically inaccurate but simply racist.
Society in general was also a major contributor to the
problem and that is why there was such a separation
between ethnicities. The entertainment business also did
not help King’s cause, as Hollywood did not promote equality in front of the camera, as well
as behind the camera. Even some caucasian actors knew that they would only be accepted
into the industry if they had more ‘American’ names, including Kirk Douglas, born Issur
Danielovich, the star of ​Spartacus​ (1960).
In contrast, by the time ‘300’ was released the
gap between the use of caucasian and non
caucasian actors was narrowed, allowing for
more a more diverse mix of ethnicities to be
given screen time.
In the second film not all actors were caucasians and it was more widely accepted for those
who were not caucasian to be in media productions. Society has become more diverse since
the release of the first film and is full of a range of races, cultures and ethnicities and this is
heavily reflected in the film. In addition the use of the range of actors in terms of race, used
to produce this film was in fact more historically accurate.
Despite the range of ethnicities portrayed, upon release, the film acquired negative feedback
from Iranian audiences and film critics, who claim that the Persians were portrayed in a
demeaning manner, as echoed by blogger Omid Memarian on his post
http://omidmemarian.blogspot.co.uk/2007/03/what-do-i-think-about-300-here-is-bbc.html

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There are more external differences that are clearly shown in both ‘The 300 Spartans’ and
‘300’. In ‘The 300 Spartans’, we can clearly see that most people were upper class, and we
know this due to the way that they sound. The language of all of the characters were clearly
more articulate, well spoken and lacked any informal speech patterns or dialects. This
indicates that the producers wanted to illustrate a high class society, reflecting the status of
their primary audience. Even if those in the audience were not classified as upper class,
many would have desired this status, hence the constant representation of ‘high society’ in
films at the time. This is yet another reflection of the capitalist ideals of the time.
The external influence for the language used in the film ‘The 300 Spartans’ was that the
people who watched the film would only accept that type of language (one that was well
spoken and clean). If they accepted the language then they were more likely to respect the
film and give it good reviews, increasing its chances of doing well. In comparison in ‘300’ we
can clearly tell who is upper class and who is lower class. For example, King Leonidas acts
as a member of lower class society due to his aggression, his tone of voice and his choice of
words. In the film ‘300’ we hear a range of accents including, Scottish, English, Persian and
American. This range of geographical tone is used as a reflection of the diversity in
contemporary society - another example of external influences used.
In terms of profanity again the two films differ. In the original film ‘The 300 Spartans’ it is
evident that there is no sex, nudity, violence, or blood. The external influence of this decision
was that the audience at the time of release would simply not accept it. Considering the
audience influences what happens in media productions (due to reviews and research, of
what is liked, disliked, acceptable and unacceptable) this would have caused outrage and
violence towards the producers and production company as contemporary society would be
heavily against it.
In dramatic contrast the film 300 uses a significant
amount of profanity. We can clearly see more
aggression, blood, limb loss, violence, swearing
and sex. The reason for this being that society
learnt to accept it by the time of the films release.
In fact it was one of the first films that people
thought this theme was ‘cool’. Audience’s knew
that it was light hearted and fake, yet at the same
time it caused excitement amongst them and it
was almost seen as an art form.
In today's society all published productions must be
rated by the BBFC. The British Board of Film
Classification is an age rating company that watches
productions and decides what age groups the
production is suitable for. In the 1960s there were no
regulatory bodies to give certifications about who was
most suited to watch a production. Now that the BBFC
and other regulatory bodies are around, they’re used to

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safeguard children of specific age groups to ensure that the media they watch is suitable for
their age.
To conclude, external factors that occur in society influence the key details and factors
of a film and how it is produced and visa versa. Producers can and are able to control their
audiences by embedding messages into their work without them challenging it. This means
that the audiences accept the ideas that producers are trying to portray, and this is known as
the hypodermic needle theory. This theory is clearly still relevant in today's society, and
throughout the media industry.