Iris shot
An iris shot is a technique frequently used in silent film, sometimes to emphasize a detail of a scene above all others, more commonly to end or open a scene. The film camera's iris is slowly closed or opened, so that what is visible on film appears in a decreasing or increasing circle, surrounded by black. The iris shot used at the end of a scene is an iris out, and an iris in is used at the start of a scene, often after a previous iris out. Iris shots are also used to put emphasis on  a particular aspect of film, usually something of importance. After the silent era, the technique fell into disuse, and has mainly been revived only for ironic or comedic effect. A late example of non-ironic irising as part of the grammar of film is found in "Life Lessons", the Martin Scorsese-directed segment of "New York Stories" (Touchstone, 1989). Non-silent era slapstick and animation—such as that of Red Skelton, Benny Hill, and the Warner Bros. Road Runner cartoons—sometimes employ or emulate the iris shot as an homage to the silent film era. In Walt Disney cartoons, after  the title card, they usually begin with an iris in and end with an iris out. In some cartoons and live-action films (and certain television shows like "The King of Queens" and "Mike & Molly"), iris shots are used as a way to break the fourth wall, usually for comedic purposes or to allow characters to interact with the audience (as opposed to a simple fade out or cut to black). Examples of this include characters trying to escape through the closing iris, addressing the audience with a one liner before the iris closes, or holding the iris open to  try and continue a monologue. "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood" uses this technique at the beginning and end of the Neighborhood of Make Believe segments, usually when the Trolley goes through the tunnel on the left side of the Castle, and through the right side of Mister Rogers' house. Occasionally, graphic overlays are applied to an iris following it to achieve an effect like the iris tearing on the "Sesame Street" segment "Frazzle" (the ripped paper image) used for the 1997 home video release. In rare cases, the iris stays closed to a fixed point for the entire shot. This is mostly  used to make the audience feel like they are in the film watching them, or hiding watching something that they probably should not. In "The Truman Show" (Paramount, 1998), for instance, shots are presented as from hidden cameras positioned in small objects such as buttons on shirts.