It's difficult. Not impossible. My brother, Christopher, and I adhere to a few principles that aid us in the balancing act between the fantasy of the film and the reality of a tight budget. We find creative, script level solutions to any financial limitation. Instead of cutting out a sequence for cost purposes, we rewrite the sequence to be cheaper but retain it's emotional meaning. We previsualize almost everything; from storyboards to animatics to shooting rehearsals, we strategically plan our shoot. And we strive to visualize as much of the actual edited film in our heads before we start production. That way we can rate our shots from most important to least so we can make snap decisions instantly without hesitation. We used these techniques in school and it allows us to put a dollar to good use.