On Sunday, two of my closest friends and I competed in a university-wide contest called the 48 Hour Challenge. The premise was that we would conceive, produce and edit a film within 48 hours, based on the assigned genre and criteria. Our film (which you can watch here) won second prize and the process of filming made me think about my favorite directors. Auteurs like Godard, Hitchcock and Wes Anderson all made the list, but I also thought about woefully under-celebrated geniuses like Maya Deren and Nicholas Ray, whose work has influenced countless other directors and filmmakers. In honor of this challenge, and my renewed awareness of how difficult making a movie is, here are some others who have given it a shot at behind the camera:  Charlie Chaplin adjusts the anglesBathing beauties gather around the cameraFrench New Wave hero Jean-Luc GodardIngmar Bergman with Sven NykvistSilver screen darling Bette Davis was usually found in front of the cameraKing of Scream, Lord of Gore: Alfred Hitchcock A still from Dziga Vertov's Man With a Movie CameraBeatles collaborator Richard LesterCatherine Deneuve on the set of RepulsionCinematic legend Orson WellesPaul McCartney tries his hand at directingOne of my favorite directors, Roman PolanskiMusical darling Ginger RogersSofia Coppola always makes the dreamiest filmsJames Dean, rebel without a cause but with a cameraPaul McCartney on the set of Magical Mystery TourAndy Warhol chose to make movies over canvas-based art in the mid-1960sWoody Allen on the different sets of his various filmsJohn Lennon gets a little camera happy on the set of Magical Mystery TourTitle: from "Put Me In A Movie" (Lana Del Rey)