what did Astruc mean by the term ‘auteur’?

Astruc was a theorist who theorised the concept camera-stylo(camera-pen) which explored the idea that the director was more of an author, if the director controls both visual and audio elements such as camera placement, blocking, scene length and shot type then they are conveying the message of the film so instead of the screenplay writer being the author the director should be instead.

Astruc’s auteur theory can be seen to be heavily derived from the concept ‘camera-stylo’. Essentially Auteur theory explains how ‘auteur’ directors work will have a unique look/feel, so much so that if you have seen their other work you will be able to tell that it’s their work when viewing other films of theirs. Examples of Auteur directors during the french new wave are Jean-Luc Godard, Alain Resnais, François Truffaut, Claude Chabrol and Louis Malle who were all associated with the film magazine Cahiers du cinéma, the publication that popularized the auteur theory in the 1950s.