Quentin Tarantino had $1.2 million to make Reservoir Dogs. No money for elaborate heists, car chases, or fancy locations. So he did what every good filmmaker would do – have the entire inciting happen off-screen.
The film opens properly after the heist goes wrong. We never see the diamond theft that drives the entire plot. Instead, we get warehouse conversations, flashbacks, and mounting paranoia. All easily shot in cheap, controlled locations. What could have been a limitation became the film's greatest strength.
Scarcity forces invention. When you can't afford the obvious solution, find a better one.
Writers with unlimited budgets often produce bloated scripts. Give them three locations and five characters, and every word matters. Every scene must earn its place.
Constraints don't kill creativity — they concentrate it.