Lots of men and women have been honored with awards for their stellar directing and achievements in film. However only a few have been so innovative they literally changed the face of film completely and left the industry different than it was before they entered. These five film directors made filmmaking into something entirely new and told their stories in such a way they shocked and awed people. Their films made filmmaking the diverse, unique landscape it is today and for that reason they are the best of the best.

Alfred Hitchcock
He took a story and then chose to tell it from a different point of view so the audience would have to figure it out and as they went along and try to out together the pieces. He choose to use a regular man that everyone could relate to and put him in an unfamiliar situation, this was the dilemma and cause of action that led the film’s narrative. Hitchcock is known for his “show don’t tell technique” only he never shows everything, he leaves out pieces for everyone to discover on their own.

Steven Spielberg
He created what is now known as the “blockbuster.” Spielberg found a way to make movies with universal appeal that folks of all ages and background fell in love with. Nowadays they are known as “commercial movies” but I prefer to call them just “good.” Hundreds of directors have since mimicked his style and tried to make something better but to do that they’ll have to develop a style all their own.

Quentin Tarantino
The most controversial director on the list, his innovation is in his disregard for caring what others think. He chooses to see a story from one point of view and it isn’t always the most noble or righteous one. His films are violent, graphic and have a great deal of depth to them. There is more to them than meets the eye and it often takes a few viewings to fully understand and appreciate them.

Orson Welles
He made the most studied and critiqued movie in history, Citizen Kane, if for no other reason than that he deserves to be on this list. Orson Welles was a visionary, a revolutionary director who wanted to make a movie he could be proud of, one that would live on in history forever.

D.W. Griffith
His Birth of A Nation was actually the birth of modern filmmaking. The techniques used in this film are the basis of all current storytelling procedures and techniques. Many more of his films continued to showcase his forward thinking and innovation but this is the one that set things in motion.