In the novel, the cinema, the theater or the comic, all kinds of stories are told and for this their creators can resort to various narrative techniques and very different ways of sequencing events.
A prequel is a narrative approach in which a plot is presented that refers to another one already known to the public. Normally the prequel tells the background of a story. In other words, it is a work of fiction in which the second part of something tells the story before the first part.
What-if prequel scenario
A writer becomes famous because he writes a novel about aliens who visit our planet to transform into pets with the intention of manipulating humans. The novel is titled “Pets of the Galaxy” and becomes a world bestseller. Given this circumstance, the writer decides to tell a new story entitled “Lost in the universe” and that deals with what happened before the arrival of the aliens on Earth. The prequel would be this last novel, which by the time it is read the reader normally already knows the plot of the first story. Thus, “Lost in the Universe” is the second part of “Pets of the Galaxy” but chronologically it is the first part.
Real examples of prequel in the cinema
In the recent history of cinema there are several examples of a prequel. Thus, some of the most famous film series resort to the prequel as a narrative technique, as is the case with the films about the planet of the apes, Star Wars, the Godfather saga, the Batman or Indiana Jones films.
A business strategy
More than a narrative technique in the strict sense, the prequel is a commercial strategy to attract the public. If a movie weren’t successful, it would be foolish to tell a story about the movie’s background.
The viewer of a prequel finds himself in a very particular circumstance, since he already knows the plot that follows the film he is watching and this aspect can be especially attractive.
The origin of the term and the Bible as the first antecedent
This word is an adaptation or calque of the English “prequel”, a term that began to be used in the Anglo-Saxon world a few decades ago and that has become globally popular in recent years.
This way of telling stories is not something totally new, since in the Bible it is possible to find similar narrative aspects to the prequel.
Photos: Fotolia – Poladroid / Gstudio