Auteur Theory
Auteur Theory states that a director is like an author in that they have their own artistic style which is seen through the majority of their work and that they are the main cinematic voice through the film. The theory was originally published in 'Cahiers du cinema' in 1954 by Francois Truffaut. A revised version of the theory was then published in 1962 by Andrew Sarris.
A key element to the theory was concentric circles which suggested that a director was technician, a stylist and an Auteur. The outer circle related to common techniques that a director used, the middle circle was that directors personal style and the inner circle was the interior meaning.
There are two main reasons why it is only a theory. Not all directors can be considered Auteurs because there is not enough similarity between their films. However, the main reason is because many directors use the same crew for most of their films. This leads to the question of whether the director is the main cinematic voice or the other crew members like the editor or script writer.
Quentin Tarantino
Tarantino is one of the most well known modern Auteurs. The reason we can call Tarantino an Auteur for definite is because he is heavily involved in every aspect of production as well as writing, directing and acting in his films. There are a number of recurring themes and techniques in his films with overly dramatic violence, intense dialogue and revenge plots being the key premises. Tarantino uses a number of unique camera shots in his films including mirror shots and the trunk shot which he invented himself. He also has a lot of similar scenes in every film such as a torture scene and dance scenes, most famously in Pulp Fiction.
Wes Anderson
Anderson is another Auteur but has a very different style to Tarantino. He is considered an Auteur because of his mise-en-scene and the setup of his shots. Anderson very much likes symmetry and this is reflected in the fact that the vast majority of his shots are perfectly centred. He also makes use of every part of the frame and often the important moments happen at the edges. Colour is another key aspect of Anderson's films and he often backs up what is on screen through the use of colour, for example in The Grand Budapest Hotel as the film grows in intensity, the colour becomes darker until it is almost black and white. Some key themes of his films are death, forbidden love and fatherhood, the latter is shown by the way he portrays adults in a childlike manner and vice versa. Anderson also uses a lot of recurring shots such as a shot-reverse-shot for conversations, a stationary pan and often ends with a slow-mo shot.