Move over David Hasselhoff, the new Baywatch action hero is a giant Galapagos tortoise. With the help of a can of V energy drink (and a little CGI), anything's possible.

Director Josh Frizzell opted for an actor over a puppet or prosthetic to provide in-camera performance and interaction reference for the tortoise. So an all-weather, life-size 'shell-suit' was built for the actor who endured the unfortunate discomfort of having their legs forced apart inside the suit so they would move with a tortoise-like, tottering gait.

"He had to run across sand and dive through waves in that thing - it was a great performance that was really invaluable for all in post. For us in visual effects, the shadows, sand and water interaction were key aspects of filming with the suit," explains Fuel VFX supervisor Simon Maddison.

The experienced Fuel CG character pipeline then built, animated and composited the CG tortoise into the shots, creating additional CG elements such as water running over the tortoise, as required.