Wong has an unusual approach to film making, starting production without a script and generally relying on instinct and improvisation rather than pre-prepared ideas. He has said he dislikes writing and finds filming from a finished script "boring". As such, he writes as he shoots, "drawing inspiration from the music, the setting, working conditions, and actors". In advance, the cast are given a minimal plot outline and expected to develop their characters as they film. To capture naturalness and spontaneity he does not allow for rehearsal, and forbids his actors from using "techniques", but improvisation and collaboration are encouraged. Wong similarly does not use storyboards or plan camera placement, preferring to experiment as he goes. His shooting ratio is therefore very high, sometimes forty takes per scene, and production typically goes well over schedule and over budget. Tony Leung has commented that this approach is "taxing on the actors", but Stokes & Hoover speculate that people endure it because " results are always unexpected, invigorating, and interesting."