While the plot of the film makes a film what it is, the storytelling styles and techniques are what make it intriguing. Sometimes a great idea hits but planning it out detail by details makes it more difficult.
That's what makes a storyteller a storyteller, a writer a writer. Go up randomly to anyone you know and ask them if they have an idea for a movie or a book that they've had for awhile. Chances are good that they not only have one idea, but several. Most people lack the time or will to turn their idea into a story. If you want to write, you have to write. And get to the finished product.
Art is in the act of doing it.
Are there any rules as to how a story should be told in order for the audience to be interested? Some particular elements that might exist? And how do you personally like the unfold the story?
Yes. And more than anyone can tell you in one post, or one thread. You'll have to study for a while, probably years, if you want to get to a good enough understanding. And after that, you can always learn more and get better. But, I'll try and help you get to a good start if I can.
1. Don't write episodic or overly complex stories.
20,000-30,000 screenplays are submitted to Hollywood every year. 99% are terrible or mediocre. And think how many bad movies are made each year...those are actually some of the better stories written. That shows you how few
good screenplays are written. Of those 99%, most fall into one of the following two categories:
a) Episodic...the movie starts like this, and then this happens, and then that happens, and then this really cool thing happens, and this part is kind of slow but just wait because this awesome part comes next...and on and on like that. You have a main character, called the protagonist, and something good happens to them, then something bad happens, then something worse happens, then something amazing happens.
That is a laundry list, and not a story. The events are not connected in any way, it just looks like random events about a person written down. Audiences will always find this boring.
b) Overly complex...some ridiculous terrorist spy James Bond wannabe or Western or whatever, where everyone is a double or triple agent, or has a hidden past, or whatever. Explosion after explosion and a plot that twists and turns more than a mountain road. Nevermind the fact that the script would probably cost $200 million to make into a film, and this is being written by someone who has never had anything produced before. Even besides that
minor detail, the story still sucks anyways.
2. Stick to the basics. As Aristotle said, a story has a beginning, a middle, and an end.
Act I is the beginning, this is your character in his/her "ordinary world" i.e. their everyday life....BUT don't mistake it for just a typical day in their life. Don't show us them getting up in the morning or going to work or having sex with their spouse if that doesn't have anything to do with the main plot. The "ordinary world" is only the part of their ordinary life which is connected to the main story. Act I then ends with something called "the Inciting Incident". This is an event that radically changes your protagonist's life. In other words, this is the event that gets your story going. Everything you write into the "ordinary world" must directly setup this event and how it affects your character. Anything else is useless.
Act II is the middle in a 3-Act story, but often this act is broken up in halves, so that Acts II and III are the middle of a 4-Act story. Whatever your Inciting Incident was, it upsets the balance in your character's life. They now have a desire to restore that balance. Basically, they now have a goal. This is what the story is about. In writing terms, it's called a "dramatic need". The first half of The Middle, the character is a newb and learns as they pursue their goal, get closer, then get shot down, etc. Near the middle of the screenplay, there is an important Turning Point, where the character either grows from learner to master, or they have setback and realize they are up against something much bigger than they first thought, or the story somehow shifts in some direction (Example: in Chinatown, the first half of the middle is about finding out what the hell is going on, then at the Midpoint, the main character figures it out, but then the second half is about finding out who is responsible).
There is another Turning Point at the end of The Middle, called the Crisis. Crisis means decision, and the Chinese symbol for this is translated as "Danger/Opportunity". If the character makes the wrong choice here, they lose forever what they want. If they make the right choice, they succeed. But you always have to show the choice in action. The character can't talk about it, they have to do it. Do they want to save their brother, or make off with $1 million? Show it. The Crisis is when the main character is in deep shit usually, the antagonism is at its highest point in the story right here. Whatever is keeping your protagonist from their goal, whether it's a villain, or fear of committment, or whatever, that antagonism is at its most powerful point at the Crisis.
The End is about resolution. Climax, and finishing your story. Your character makes their choice, and then they take their one last, final, greatest action to achieve what they want. They might succeed, or they might fail. But this is the last chance, no holding back. Write it so that there is nothing left in the tank. When the movie is over, nobody should ever think "oh they should've done this instead" or "well, they'll just go back to their normal life, nothing lost". Denouement is the part at the end, whether a few seconds, or a several minutes, where all of the loose ends are wrapped up, and it gives the audience time to calm down before the end. Ever get that feeling at the end of a movie that it's going to be over in 2 minutes? That's the denouement.
3. Everything happens through drama/conflict.
NOTHING in a story happens except through drama. Even that "ordinary world" thing I talked about...there should be drama in your character's everday life. We don't need to see their boring habits. Make it interesting. Make it drama. Just remember it has to relate to the Inciting Incident and the overall story.
There is much much more but hopefully that's a start. I suggest reading a lot of books and blogs and post around here on IndieTalk for awhile. It took me about 1 year before I felt like I was getting the hang of it, and 2 years to feel really confident. There are a lot of great tips here at IndieTalk, and there are free resources on the web....BUT let me warn you on this. Read up the free stuff on the internet, and just store it in the back of your mind. Don't stop there. Most people who write blogs on the internet know what they are doing, and technically they tell people right, but the context is missing. They aren't teachers afterall, they are writers. So I would recommend reading them first, then read some books.
My recommendations and the order I read (and re-read) them a few times in:
Story, Robert McKee
The Poetics Aristotle
The Art of Dramatic Writing Lajos Egri
The Screenwriter's Workbook Syd Field
The suggestions in previous posts were good too...but I think you can get most of the Monomyth stuff off the internet for free IMO.
Good luck.
