Ana Clara Coutinho de Freitas is a graduate student in Image and Sound at the Federal University of São Carlos (UFSCar), where she is conducting research with a grant from the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP). She is currently a BEPE-FAPESP (Overseas Research Internship Grant) fellow, conducting a research internship with the FILM AND DEATH project at NOVA University in Lisbon. Her research, titled “A Jornada Emocional de Steven Universo: Melodrama e a Morte como Estruturantes Narrativos”, investigates the relationships between melodrama, death, and narrative complexity in the animated series Steven Universe (2013–2019), with a focus on television studies, animated series, and narrative. She is a member of the ex.ludens research group and has experience in audiovisual production, screenwriting, art direction, illustration, and animation.