The format for production screenplays evolved according to the needs of the people needing the physical pages on set, e.g. dialogue has a lot of whitespace so t

The format for production screenplays evolved according to the needs of the people needing the physical pages on set, e.g. dialogue has a lot of whitespace so that director and actors can keep notes there. Also, scene headings need to convey a lot of information in one line: on which set the scene in shot, whether it exists as a continuation of the previous scene, whether it's shot on location, and what lighting equipment will be needed. It's a storytelling format that also needs to function as a reference document. It's very efficient for its requirements. There's also the idea that one page = one minute of screen-time, but this is a bit of a red herring. Rather it's that overall a 100-page screenplay, if it contains a conventional balance of action and dialogue, with conventional length of scenes, shot at a conventional pacing, will likely result in a 100-minute film once edited. ALL IS LOST is 32 pages and 105 min film, THE SOCIAL NETWORK is 164 pages, 120 min film.