Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt focuses on the life of its titular character Kimmy who possesses a positive and optimistic outlook on life. The color scheme of the show tends to match and reflect her personality. Kimmy’s and Titus’s apartment is full of color; the background of every shot showing vibrant yellows, turquoises, and magentas. Kimmy and Titus both wear vibrant, accent colors. The show’s setting tends to take place in well lit areas. In addition, almost every scene takes place during the day and rarely ever at night. The lighting and the color scheme help emphasize the positive ambiance of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.
The vibrant colors of Kimmy’s current world juxtaposes her past where she had to live inside a colorless bunker. Even in the bunker, Kimmy and the other girls were the only source of color, wearing drab shades. As she comes out of the bunker, the color in Kimmy’s world explodes which is eventually reflected her clothing.

Kimmy talking to Charlie

Charlie “talking” to Kimmy

Split-Screen

The cinematography of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt matches the humorous nature of the show and is used for comedic effect. For example, in the fifth episode of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (Kimmy Kisses a Boy!), Kimmy is told by Charles, Buckley’s tutor, that he loves her. The scene is set up with single shots of both characters talking on the phone to each other. Since the scene is from Kimmy’s point of view, the moment is portrayed as romantic and shows Charles talking in a soft tone. Later, when Kimmy goes to talk to him about the moment, she discovers that the he butt dialed her and was actually talking to one of his friends about a video game. Here, the show uses cinematography for a humorous effect when the show juxtaposes the earlier scene in a split screen to show Charles’s “conversation” with Kimmy and his friend.