 300 entered active production on October 17 , 2005 , in Montreal , and was shot over the course of sixty days in chronological order with a budget of $ 60 million . Employing the digital backlot technique , Snyder shot at the now @-@ defunct Icestorm Studios in Montreal using bluescreens . Butler said that while he did not feel constrained by Snyder 's direction , fidelity to the comic imposed certain limitations on his performance . Wenham said there were times when Snyder wanted to precisely capture iconic moments from the comic book , and other times when he gave actors freedom " to explore within the world and the confines that had been set . " Headey said of her experience with the bluescreens , " It 's very odd , and emotionally , there 's nothing to connect to apart from another actor . " Only one scene , in which horses travel across the countryside , was shot outdoors . The film was an intensely physical production , and Butler pulled an arm tendon and developed foot drop . 
