How to burn a family – and their dog – at the stake.

  1. Ensure all public liability policies are current and cover pretend fires that can turn ugly.
  2. Build a big fire in winter and on a vacant lot far from everything.
  3. Start with close-ups of stressed family – and dog – and create the impression they are in close proximity to said flames.
  4. Ensure mother screams a lot.
  5. Save the wide shot till the end to avoid singeing of clothes.
  6. Lock off a wide shot of all and sundry, then film family screaming and panicking at said stake without flames – repeat without flames, followed by same without family. NB: ensure family is removed from scene before setting fire to  everything.
  7. Shoot additional close-ups of flames to add more realism later.
  8.  Pass over to editor to join all scenes together.