Should all movies that aim to be hard boiled...

...be shot low-budget -- spare resources for a tone similar to abstemious prose?

"Winter’s Bone" director [Debra] Granik, the only woman on the panel, related how the low-budget film was shot with $2 million, in part by using practical locations, a small lighting package and a fleet documentary-style crew that could move quickly and re-set shots. “I don’t think it would have made it a better film” to have $4 million, she said. “A frugal budget was commensurate with our goals.”