
Continuity mistake: In the scene where Count Olaf starts walking from the balcony to the stairs, you can see his right hand when he is saying "lovely home" with no writing. Later when he looks at his hand to remember Violet's name, his hand has writing on it. (00:09:20)






Answer: A magnifying glass concentrates all the light that goes through it at its focal point, and it is this focal point that needs to be placed on the object which one wants to set on fire. The distance of the focal point to the lens depends on the magnifying glass characteristics, and it is more than likely that Count Olaf chose a glass where the focal point would be situated exactly "37 blocks" away from his house, that is, at the Baudelaire's mansion. When trying to set on fire an object much, much closer, the glass would concentrate much, much less energy, and would only be able to set on fire easily burnt objects, such as thin paper.
AnthonyA